


Crossing the line

by TastyToast



Series: Showstoppers series [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'll warn for it in the beginning notes of that chapter, Idiots in Love, M/M, Secret Relationship, Tags May Change, The warning is for like 1 chapter, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 99,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26812873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TastyToast/pseuds/TastyToast
Summary: I love you. It’s such a simple sentence Bumblebee had uttered to Blitzwing that night in the woods, but just that had been what had been the official start to their relationship. I love you, a simple sentence, but also a most serious and a most dangerous one.What lies are you willing to tell, what promises willing to break, and what lines are you willing to cross for the one you love?(sequel to Showstoppers)
Relationships: Blitzwing/Bumblebee
Series: Showstoppers series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955461
Comments: 278
Kudos: 300





	1. The starting line

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to Showstoppers, so i suggest that you read that fic first, if you haven't read that one you might be a bit confused.
> 
> Like always so are comments and kudos greatly appreciated and helps keep me motivated to continue writing!  
> And as always if you want any tags added feel free to tell me!

Bumblebee was jolted awake by his HUD alarm blaring right in his audio. Bleary eyed he checked the reading on his chronometer, and felt a triumphant smile spread across his face when he saw what time it was. The red numbers glaring back at him read 10:00 pm. Bumblebee quickly shut off the alarm and looked out of his window, and sawthe pitch black sky outside, the sun having disappeared hours ago. It was absolutely perfect.

That discovery already had Bumblebee feeling at least 100 times more alert as he swung his legs off the side of the berth. He might as well have thrown himself off it for how excited he was to get going.

He quietly tiptoed to the door and pressed the side of his helm against it as he carefully listened for any movement. He couldn't hear anything. Which hopefully meant that the rest of his team was still in recharge. As soon as Bumblebee was sure that the coast was clear he began to put his plan into action. First he made sure the door was locked, as he'd have a much easier time explaining a locked door than why he'd suddenly gone missing in the middle of the night, should any of his teammates decide to check in on him for whatever reason.

He then quickly returned to his berth and reached for a small box he'd placed next to the berth like some sort of makeshift table. Inside he pulled out a thick rope. He carefully wrapped the rope around his berth before tying it and giving it a few experimental tugs to make sure it was secure. Once he was sure it could hold his weight he swung the rest of the rope over his shoulder.

He then carefully shut the box it had been hidden in and lifted it onto his berth before shoving it against the wall. That part taken care of, he then used the box as a modified step ladder to climb up to the window overlooking his room. Carefully he stood up straight, using his arms to keep balance. Even stacked like this, he was just barely tall enough to be able to open the window in his room.

Both the window and its frame were old enough that he had to exhort a fair bit of effort to convince them to move. 

Immediately after wrenching the stubborn thing open, he could feel the biting chill of the outside air hit him. The cold breeze was certainly a shock compared to the cozy warmth of the Autobots' temporary base. The fall months had started to run out and every day it seemed to just get colder and colder as winter approached. But despite how uncomfortably frigid the night air was, Bumblebee was not even slightly deterred. The reward waiting for him at the end would be more than worth the trouble.

He threw the rope he'd been carrying over his shoulder out the open window before heaving himself through. He made sure to keep a tight grip on the window frame as he made his way through, least he fall onto the hard asphalt below. As soon as he was clear of the window seal he grabbed the rope with both servos and started to rappel himself down to the ground.

Bumblebee knew that sneaking out of the base this way required _a_ _lot_ more work than just simply walking out the front door, but that was also the more risky option. He’d almost gotten caught that way more than once, because _someone_ just had to have a night snack at the exact same moment Bumblebee was about to step outside. 

His streak of avoiding detection was actually pretty impressive if he said so himself. He’d only been caught once when he had accidentally run into Sari on her way to the kitchen to grab a glass milk after a bad dream and he had to quickly come up with a similar excuse. He'd blamed his being up on unspecified nightmares that time, and had gently guided her back to her room before taking off. Thankfully the only consequence for that near catastrophe had been being set back about 15 minutes. Still, after that near miss he'd decided to come up with a new, sneakier way, to leave base. And so far his new tactic had been a success.

Finally, his peds made contact with the ground and he let go of the rope. Carefully, so as to remain undetected, he started walking further and further away until he eventually turned the corner and saw the factory disappear from his line sight.

He pressed his back against the corner of a nearby building and took a moment to just confirm to himself that no one was watching or following behind him. But thankfully, as was the usual, he was completely alone.

A self-satisfaction grin crept up his lips just before he made a running jump into his alt mode and took off into the night.

He drove like that for a long time. The city of Detroit slowly fading away behind him. Dinobot island had been their usual meeting spot, and it was definitely a safer place to meet in secret due to its remote location, but the lake had gotten so cold lately that he had actually started to get warning messages popping up in his HUD whenever he jumped in. So, they’d been forced to change locations. Thankfully, Blitzwing had found a good alternative spot for them during one of his patrol flights.

Bumblebee eventually made a sharp turn off the main road onto an almost completely overgrown path paved only with rough gravel. The road was fairly obscured from sight and Bumblebee was pretty sure that most people just drove right past it without even knowing it was there. 

The road took him right into the heart of a forest, where large trees had lost nearly all their leaves. The road was uncomfortably bumpy considering its unpaved state and it seemed that the forest had slowly started to reclaim it as part of its own. Small saplings and patches of tall grass had started to poke through the gravel in places and moss had grown in large clumps over others. 

It wasn't particularly fun to drive on and Bumblebee was starting to seriously envy Blitzwing’s ability to fly that made it so he didn't have to deal with things like this.

After a few more minutes of internally cursing the road underneath his tires, his goal finally came into sight. A large, storage building that appeared to have been abandoned for ages. It looked to be made out of large slabs of white cladding sheet metal that was slowly turning a more grey/green color as it's paint flaked off and moss grew over it. There was also a fair amount of graffiti covering the walls but even that seemed to be old. Most of its once vibrant color appeared almost washed out as it was faded by the sun.

The door to inside was wide open and Bumblebee wasted no time in quickly transforming and walked in with the confidence of someone who owned the joint.

The inside was full of empty wooden crates and rotting stacked pallets. Whoever had owned this place before Blitzwing and Bumblebee started using it clearly hadn’t seen fit to clean up before they'd up and abandoned it.

By some miracle the roof of this building had remained intact and was still doing a pretty good job of keeping out the rain, leaving the inside surprisingly dry.

Bumblebee made a quick look around and quickly discovered he was alone. He walked further inside where all the way in the very back, hidden under a tarp, was a large generator. Blitzwing had been the one to bring it in. Bumblebee had no idea where he'd gotten it from, and he hadn’t asked, but he held the strong suspicion that somewhere, some random citizen was missing their generator.

Bumblebee started it up with a few quick button presses, and soon the room was lit up by some cheap icicle lights Bumblebee had acquired from a nearby thrift shop. 

They were clearly the cheap kind that were only made for their aesthetics as opposed to actually being a good source of light. Thankfully, they still served their purpose of illuminating the inside of the storage shed enough to keep him from stumbling around in the dark, and they also helped to make the place feel at least a little more welcoming.

As soon as the lights had flickered to life, Bumblebee climbed onto one of the wooden boxes and let his dangling legs swing back and forth as he waited excitedly. 

Blitzwing and him had been together officially for almost a full month and a half now. Still, with all the time they'd spent together trying to survive, that time frame didn't feel right. Time seemed to move both too fast and too slow. It felt as if he'd known Blitzwing for ages and the days and weeks had seemed to fly by.

It felt like he'd been waiting an eternity, (but in actuality was more in the realm of 5 minutes,) before he heard the familiar sound of a jet engine overhead.

Bumblebee felt his spark beginning to beat faster as he jumped off the crate he'd been sitting on and dashed back to the entrance just in time to see Blitzwing land with a heavy 'thud'. Both the building and the ground outside shook with the impact and brightly coloured leaves got kicked up from the ground flying everywhere.

As soon as Bumblebee laid optics on the con, he felt his spark skip a beat.

He ended up freezing in place as he stopped to admire the much big mech in front of him. Blitzwing's heavy frame had clearly braced for the rough landing, and it was times like these where Bumblebee could see his powerful frame in action that he just had to stop and take in how handsome he found the triple changer. 

It would simply be a crime not to. 

Blitzwing eventually turned towards him, adorning his jagged grin faceplate at the moment.

Bumblebee finally shook himself out of his self indulgent ogling and sprang back to life. A cocky grin spreading across his lips as he took out his stingers and pointed them at the triple changer.

“Now, what are you doing all the way out here, Decepticon?” He asked smugly. 

Blitzwing let out a high pitched laugh and lowered his cannons.

“I came here to take care of a bug infestation!” He said, finishing off his threat with a malicious cackle. 

They stood at a tense standoff for a moment longer, before Bumblebee finally gave him a playful wink. At the signal, Blitzwing's jagged grin seemed to grow even wider before he quickly returned it with a wink of his own.

Immediately both their weapons were deactivated. Bumblebee retracted his stingers back into his arms and Blitzwing cannons rose back to their standby position. Blitzwing then immediately kneeled down to one knee and stretched out his arms in a silent offer to the minibot. Seeing this, Bumblebee quickly took off towards him with a running jump.

As soon as he was close enough Blitzwing grabbed him under his much smaller arms and gleefully hoisted above his helm. He made a few dizzying spins with Bumblebee held that way before pulling Bumblebee close enough so they could share a kiss.

As soon as their kiss ended Bumblebee started happily nuzzling his faceplate into the warm plating of Blitzwing's neck. 

“I _missed you._ ” Bumblebee said, albeit with a slightly muffled voice.

Blitzwing let out one last giggle; before his faceplate switched to Icy and he adjusted his hold on the minibot into more of a bridal carry.

“We spoke on our comms just yesterday” he pointed out, his smile audible. Bumblebee gave an exaggerated groan. 

“Yeah, but Yesterday might as well have been an eteeeeernity ago!” he continued. Blitzwing simply planted a small kiss on top of the mibots helm and started walking into the building.

“If I could be with you more often I would.” He said honestly, momentarily shifting Bumblebee into one arm as he closed the door with the other behind them.

“I knooooow!” Bumblebee whined, “But can't you at least let a minibot dream about seeing his boyfriend a bit more often?” Bumblebee then pouted and crossed his arms childishly. He knew that their limited meetups were necessary, but that definitely didn’t make it suck any less.

Blitzwing had confided in Bumblebee (only after he had promised that he wouldn't tell the rest of his team) that he and Lugnut switched patrolling duty every other night. So, technically speaking Blitzwing and Bumblebee _might_ be able see each other more than just their usual once a week meetups. But sadly Blitzwing didn't think taking such a huge risk was a good idea. 

His reasoning was that slipping away from look out duty was already risky enough at only once a week, and if he attempted to go off the radar more often it would only heighten the chances of someone taking notice. So, for both of their collective safety, they’d instead come to the agreement to meet up once a week when Blitzwing was already out of the Decepticon base and supposed to be on patrol. The rest of the week they’d typically talk through their comlinks. Although, to avoid raising suspicion, Blitzwing was the only one allowed to initiate calls. 

If someone suddenly called Bumblebee while at base he could always answer the question of who it was by just saying it was some human he'd recently made friends with. However, if someone called Blitzwing while other Decepticons' were around, he'd have a much harder time explaining it since his own list of known contacts was so short.

Blitzwing sat heavily down against the far wall of the building before leaning back and carefully laying down Bumblebee in his lap. Bumblebee, for his part, immediately started making himself comfortable feeling Blitzwing's blissful warmth slowly spreading into his own chilled frame.

Bumblebee then thrust his right servo up in the air towards the larger mech to which Blitzwing responded with a small smile. He gently reached forward and let their digits intertwine, before letting their shared grip come to rest on top of Bumblebee's chest plate.

Bumblebee loved these special moments more than he'd ever care to admit. Being able to feel Blitzwing’s servo interlocked with his just felt _right_. Like they were two puzzle pieces that had finally found a match, and If they just held on to each other tight enough nothing would ever be able to pull them apart. It might have been a simple gesture, but to Bumblebee it was a physical sign of their shared love for each other. A sign that they were in this together. That neither of them would again have to face the world alone. 

Eventually, the tranquillity of the moment was shattered when Bumblebee remembered something.

“Blitzwing!” He suddenly exclaimed, “You won’t believe what happened today!” Blitzwing, having gotten used to this kind of thing, simply looked down with a look with mild amusement.

“What happened today?” he asked indulgently. 

“You know the boss battle I told you I was stuck on; because it kept healing itself?!” Blitzwing gave a small nod. “Well, I spent all today and most of yesterday grinding for exp, which was a serious hassle, because almost all of the enemies in the boss area were super strong and all the enemies in the other sections of the game don't reward you with a fair amount of exp! _Which is shoddy game design if you ask me_ , and since I didn't have a choice if I wanted to win, I was forced to level up like _suuuuuper_ slowly, but guess what happened then!”

“What happened?” Blitzwing asked. 

“Well, after _finally_ leveling up one of my characters they gained this special new ability that makes enemies that have healing abilities, take damage instead!” Blitzwing’s faceplate switched to Random, his already large optics widening further in a look of amazement.

“No way!”

“Yes way!” Bumblebee exclaimed, his whole frame quivering with excitement. “So, when I went back to challenge the boss, it was like, super easy to defeat him!” 

“I knew you could do it!” Blitzwing exclaimed before leaning forward and planting a congratulatory kiss on Bumblebee forhelm.

“Like there was ever any doubt!" Bumblebee replied smugly, "So anyway after I'd wiped the floor with that guy-” After that, Bumblebee continued to ramble nonstop about whatever random thing he could remember being interesting from the last week. Meanwhile, Blitzwing just continued to listen to him talk with a fond expression. Occasionally he'd make his own comment or ask for clarification, but most of the time he didn't feel the need to add anything.

Either way, Bumblebee appreciated the effort, and he knew that it was just Blitzwing's way of saying he was paying close attention instead of just tuning out Bumblebee's chatter as annoying background noise. 

Eventually, Bumblebee's list of things to talk about ran thin, so he decided to let the other mech carry the conversation for change. He smiled up at Blitzwing

“So, what have you been up to?” Blitzwing’s faceplate switched to Icy and he let out a tired sigh.

“The same old I'm afraid, nothing particularly noteworthy has happened back at base.” Blitzwing’s faceplate then suddenly switched back to Random “Nothing I can tell _you_ about at least!” His statement was immediately followed by laughter.Bumblebee shot him a cheeky smirk.

“Oh, c’mon! Can’t you at least give me a hint?” Blitzwing shook his helm. 

“My lips are sealed!” He said, making a gesture of zipping his mouth shut. 

“You’re no fun.” Bumblebee said with a feigned pout, “Why can’t you just tell me all the Decepticons' most well kept secrets?! It sure would make my job a lot easier!” Blitzwing seemed to think on that for a moment before a mischievous grin spread across his face.

“Well, in that case!" He said with a giggle, "I’ll tell you of our most nefarious plots! But first you have to promise never to tell anyone!” Bumblebee's optics widened in disbelief at the sudden change of spark. Though, in the back of his processor he reminded himself that this was very suspicious; _especially_ coming from Blitzwing's Random persona. Still, he was much too intrigued by his good fortune to give voice to his doubts. So, instead he just nodded his agreement and looked up at the triple changer in anticipation.

Blitzwing must have noticed the curious look on his faceplate; because in the next second his faceplate switched to Icy. His expression was a perfect mask over whatever he was feeling and when he spoke his voice was in monotone.

“We're currently working on a project to gain enough trust from an unnamed Autobot, so that they'll reveal sensitive information to us.” Bumblebee looked up at him in surprise.

“Really?” He asked, Blitzwing nodded. “Is it working?” Blitzwing shrugged.

“I don’t know. Do you have any Autobot secrets you'd like to share?” His emotionless facade cracked as lips twitched into a smirk. 

It took Bumblebee a few seconds to realize Blitzwing had just played him. After which, Bumblebee promptly shoved his elbow into Blitzwing’s abdomen.

“Oh, shove it up your exhaust pipe Blitzbrain!” He said with a scowl. To his chagrin, Blitzwing's smug look hadn't lessened at all. Bumblebee glowered at him for another minute before he finally let the matter drop.

“So nothing interesting happened?” He asked with a smirk, “Do you at least have some gossip?” Blitzwing was quiet for a moment, probably trying to wrack his processor for anything deserving of repeating, before his faceplate switched to Hothead.

“Lugnut's been been repeatedly shouting some of Megatron's older speeches in the corridors to "lift morale”" here he made exaggerated quotation marks. “-and I swear to Primus, if I have to hear one more speech at 4 am I’ll uppercut him in the jaw so hard his lower and upper mandibles will fuse together and he'll have to pry them apart with a crowbar.” A chuckle escaped Bumblebee intake at the mental picture Blitzwing just had painted.

“I don’t think losing the use of his mouth would be enough to stop him.” Bumblebee stated humorously, “He’d just start mumbling those speeches instead.” Blitzwing let out an exhausted sigh.

“The awful thing is that you're probably right, at this point I don’t think even going offline would stop him." Blitzwing said with a groan, "He’d just return as a ghost and continue to hassle me!” Bumblebee grinned up at him.

“Yeah, some of my teammates can be pretty annoying, but I really think you really pulled the short straw in that department.” Bumblebee said with a laugh. Blitzwing responded to _that_ observation with an annoyed huff.

“I know that! There's no need to rub it in!” He growled. Bumblebee just let out a soft chuckle. 

“Hey, at least don’t have to listen to Boss bots lectures.” Bumblebee consoled. Their conversation died down after that.

After a moment Blitzwing silently shifted his grip so that he could cradle the much smaller servo in his own, his thumb making lazy trails over the back of Bumblebee's servo. 

The small change had Bumblebee looking up at him curiously. Even while being on Hothead and wearing a visor Bumblebee still saw those small hints on the triple changers faceplate that showed his contentment of being with him which made Bumblebee feel like his spark almost skipped a beat. 

“Hey, Blitzy?” 

“Hm?”

“Have I mentioned that I love you?” He noticed Blitzwing’s lips quirk up into one of his rare, genuine smiles that never failed to make Bumblebee feel all warm and fuzzy. That smile that was only for him.

“I’m not sure I remember,” He said, a teasing edge to his voice. 

“Well I’ll remind you then!" Bumblebee said with determination, "I love you.” Blitzwing’s faceplate immediately switched to Random, his large optics shining with joy and playfulness.

“What was that?” He said, cupping his servo next to his helm "I couldn’t quite hear you!" 

Bumblebee's grin grew wider as he let go of Blitzwing's black servo so he could stand up on the big mechs lap. He then placed his servos on either side of his cockpit and looked him straight in the optic.

“I love you!” He said a bit louder. 

“One more time?” Bumblebee laughed and put their foreheads together.

“I love you! I love you! I loooove youuuu!” Each new declaration drew forth a burst of breathless laughter until they both descended into a fit of giggles. After they recovered from their laughing fit and had a chance to wipe the mirth filled tears from their optics Bumblebee pulled back from where he'd collapsed against Blitzwing chest. 

“Do you know how much _I_ love you?” Blitzwing asked, grinning at him.

“No, how much?” Bumblebee said with a sunny smile.

Blitzwing threw out his arms as wide as he could make them go, straining his shoulders in an attempt to stretch them out further. “This much!" He cried happily, "I just can’t contain it all! Sometimes I feel like if I don’t smooch you I’ll blow a fuse!” He said, before quickly engulfing Bumblebee in a tight hug and planting small kisses all over his faceplate. Bumblebee could feel his cheeks growing hot from all the attention and small giggles bubbled out of his intake.

“Stop that!” Bumblebee cried in-between hysterical laughter, “That tickles!”

However, their wonderful moment was soon shattered by both their HUDs springing to life and alerting them of what time it was. They both froze as they read the messages, the room turning uncomfortably silent before Bumblebee quickly ended his reading with with a yell,

“What?!” He shouted, a scowl quickly appearing on his faceplate. “It can't possibly be time to go already!” Blitzwing, having finished his own examination of his chronometer, switched back to Icy with a sigh. 

“Sadly, that seems to be the case.” He said, his usual monotone still managing to convey his dissatisfaction. 

He carefully grabbed Bumblebee around the waist and lowered him onto the floor before standing up himself. Bumblebee sadly held up a servo, his silent offer quickly being accepted as Blitzwing grabbed onto it as they both slowly started walking towards the exit.

Blitzwing forced the rusted door open again, and they stepped out into the cold night air.

The sun had yet to rise, but it would crest the horizon in about an hour, and by then they'd both need to be back at their respective bases to avoid suspicion.

They both loved spending these date nights together, but by default, each one had to end on a slightly sour note. They belonged to different factions that were still at war with one another, and as long as it stayed that way, they’d be forced to keep their meetings short. The very real threat of exposure always in the back of their processors.

After they cleared the threshold of the storage building, Blitzwing bent down on one knee, and they both shared a tight hug. They stayed like that for a while. Neither of them wanted to let go, despite the harsh reality that their time was running out.

Eventually, they forced themselves to pull apart and Blitzwing stood to his full height. Bumblebee just looked up at him with a sad smile and bent his digits so that they made out a heart shape.

“I’ll see you around!” He said, trying to hide his immense disappointment at having to say goodbye already. 

Blitzwing gave him a soft smile of his own, before blowing a kiss in Bumblebee's direction. Being a good sport, Bumblebee pretended to catch it.

Blitzwing’s faceplate immediately switched to a grinning Random before he transformed and blasted off into the early morning sky. He flew in a few dizzying loops before Bumblebee lost sight of him.

Bumblebee stood there for a few moments longer. Just staring off in the direction Blitzwing had flown off in, before he finally shook himself and got to work. 

Before he left, he turned off the generator, plunging the building back into darkness once more. He then threw the tarp back over it and walked outside. He stretched out his stiff circuits from sitting in one place for so long; before transforming and taking off back to base. 

He transformed a few blocks away from the Autobots' base and quietly crept back towards his window. The rope he'd used was still hanging out of it, and with a sigh, he began the arduous task of climbing back through his window.

After dragging himself back into his room, he stood on the box he'd left behind and pulled the window shut. He then started putting all of his 'sneaking supplies' back in order. Coiling up the rope he just used, he shoved it back into the box and carried the box he'd stepped on in order to reach the window back to its proper place next to his berth. Just as he was surveying his room for anything that looked out of place, he felt the datapad he'd crammed in his sub space vibrate. Alerting him that he had a new message. 

Having fixed up everything that could be deemed suspicious, he laid down on his berth and saw that he had a new message from someone labeled “Neapolitan ice cream.” 

It had become something of an inside joke after Sari had informed him about the dessert with three flavours, and even if the ice cream didn’t technically match up with Blitzwing's three facial colors, Bumblebee still found it pretty funny. And hey, he still had to give Blitzwing some kind of secret contact name! He couldn’t have just left it as Blitzy, since if any of his teammates saw it, their relationship would be revealed in a matter of seconds.

He opened the message, certain of what it would say. Bumblebee smiled when he saw the two words illuminated on the screen. “Good night.” The message was short, and not particularly impressive either, but it never failed to make Bumblebees spark speed up. 

Blitzwing was usually the one who went to berth first, and because of that he almost always sent a ‘good night’ message before Bumblebee. Bumblebee knew it wasn't a competition, but it still irritated him a bit. One of these days he'd beat Blitzwing to the punch, but for now, he typed out his response, “Good night!” 

Having sent off his message Bumblebee shoved the data pad back into his sub space. He took a moment, just smiling up at the ceiling like an idiot, before he slowly fell into recharge, his spark still full of love.


	2. Business as usual

A series of loud knocks stirred Bumblebee from his sparse recharge. He’d only gotten back about 2 hours ago and was still extremely tired and absolutely not ready to start the day. It really sucked that neither of those things mattered to the person banging on his door.

“Bumblebee get out here! It’s time to get up!” Optimus yelled from outside his room.

Bumblebee just made an exaggerated groan and pulled his pillow over his face. Optimus must've heard his less than stellar response; because He then heard an irritated sigh.

“You've got 10 minutes to get up, or I’m coming in.” Optimus finished, before Bumblebee heard him walk away.

Bumblebee continued to lay motionless in his berth for a few more minutes; before he forced himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed at his optics tiredly and tried to convince himself to leave the warm comfort of his berth. Eventually, he forced himself to get up and walk, albeit somewhat clumsily, out of his bedroom and down the hall until he got to the common living area. From what he could see, Prowl who was already practicing his morning warm-up stretches. Optimus was standing by the monitor, Ratchet and Bulkhead were having some kind of conversation, and Sari was sitting on the sofa, eating cereal and watching early morning cartoons. Since she seemed the least likely to react negatively to his current state and watching cartoons needed the least amount of energy, Bumblebee walked over and slumped down next to her. He did  _ try _ watching the moving pictures on the screen, but he was so tired he kept dozing off. Sari must have noticed, because after the end of the next episode, she turned to look at him.

“You look really tired.” She pointed out. Bumblebee looked over from where he'd been dozing against the arm rest and gave her a small smile.

“I was just up late last night gaming.” He said with a sheepish grin, he hated having to lie directly to her face like this, but he really didn’t have any other choice. He couldn’t exactly tell her ‘I’m tired because I met up with my Decepticon boyfriend last night’ admitting something like that would be a one way ticket to sinking the entire base and his team into the depths of chaos! Still, it sucked that he had to keep lying to everyone. 

Well, he guessed he wasn't  _ technically _ lying to his team about meeting up with Blitzwing. No one had actually asked him: ‘Hey, are you dating Blitzwing?’ Though Bumblebee had the distinct feeling his team would just call that a lie of omission and not accept the old standby “Oh, I didn’t tell you guys? Must've slipped my mind!” as a valid excuse.

Either way, Optimus seemed to have heard his response to Sari because he suddenly turned towards Bumblebee and spoke up with his 'righteous lecturing tone'.

“What have I told you about staying up so late? If you aren't getting enough recharge at night then you won’t have the energy to help us defend Detroit!” He continued his nagging for a moment longer, until Bumblebee finally cut him off with an annoyed sigh.

“I know, I know, you don’t have to keep telling me." Now, it was Optimus's turn to let out an irritated sigh.

“Well, apparently I do because you keep doing it!” He said sternly, “You’re going to need all the energy you can get to make it through the day, and I think that recharging is far more important than wasting time playing video games.” Bumblebee glanced over at Sari as Optimus continued his lecture and made a face as he opened and closed his servo in a mocking version of a mouth. Sari covered her mouth with her hands as she tried to stifle her laughter, which eventually forced a quiet snicker out of Bumblebee.

“Bumblebee!” Optimus' angered voice suddenly cut through their mirth, causing Bumblebee to glance back towards him. “Are you even listening to me?!” He shouted. Bumblebee just rolled his optics.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t stay up late, ya got it boss bot.” Bumblebee responded whilst waving off his concerns. At this point he'd just decided to ignore everything Optimus said. Realizing that he was getting nowhere, Optimus let out another deep sigh and returned his focus to the monitors. Bumblebee let out a sigh of relief.

He then turned back to the colorful world on the TV screen, content to spend the rest of the morning watching cartoons with Sari, before he suddenly remembered something.

“Hey Sari,” She glanced over, her mouth full of cereal.

“Hm?” She asked, her voice muffled.

“Can I borrow your radio next week? That one that can play CD’s?” She looked at him for a moment longer before swallowing her food. 

“Sure, but why do you need it?”

“It’s for the CD compilation. I want to listen to it.” He answered truthfully, Sari seemed to quickly catch on what he meant.

He and Sari had been working on creating a CD with music on it for a while now. It was still a work in progress, but it was coming along nicely. Bumblebee had mentioned that he wanted his own mix CD so he'd always have good music on hand, (or at least that was the cover story he'd gone with), and Sari had been more than happy to help him look up songs. They'd listened to all kinds of different bands and genres in the last few days and had fun picking out the ones Bumblebee wanted. The CD was almost finished, and saying that Bumblebee was excited to finally have it, was a massive understatement.

“Sure, you can borrow it." Sari replied, "But why next week?” Bumblebee shrugged.

“I just want to be able to try it out, maybe even test out some sweet new dance moves." He said with a grin, "And if I do I don’t want anyone else watching me.” That wasn't even close to the real reason, but thankfully Sari seemed none the wiser to his fib. She just shrugged.

“Sure, just make sure you don’t break it.” Bumblebee gave her a grateful smile.

“You've got it! Thank you!”

As soon as his discussion with Sari had ended, Optimus switched off the monitor, and turned to address the rest of his team.

“Sari, finish up your cereal, and Autobots get ready. Once Sari's finished her breakfast we’re to report for some road maintenance downtown.”

* * *

Blitzwing woke up with a tired groan as his alarm went off. He'd thankfully gotten most of the morning off because of how late he'd been out on patrol last night, but now his chronometer was showing that his shift was about to start and he needed to get up.

He slowly rose from his berth with an exhausted sigh, and began the long trek down the winding tunnels of the mine. His every footstep exaggerated, as it echoed inside the narrow passages. 

He walked until he arrived at the part of the mine that had been designated for storage, and took a barrel of oil from one of the haphazard piles before turning around and making his way toward the main hub where the space bridge was being constructed. As he walked he took small sips from the oil barrel.

As soon as he entered the room he could see that Mixmaster and Scrapper were already up and hard at work on the space bridge. It seemed to be coming along nicely so far. Well, at least as far as Blitzwing could tell. He was a soldier first and a sculptor second. He was by no means a construction bot, and couldn't claim more than the most basic of knowledge when it came to these kinds of things. 

He glanced over at the current piece of equipment they were working on. The large piece of metal and open circuitry was leaning against one of the cave's far walls as the two Constructicons' ran back and forth. That part alone had taken a little over half a week to get to its' current state.

His mind was quickly drawn back to the present when Lugnut, who'd apparently been in the room the entire time, approached him. Blitzwing turned his attention to the other mech, and took another swig of his oil in lieu of issuing a greeting. 

“Blitzwing! You've finally arrived to assist our most glorious leader with his brilliant plan!” Lugnut said, beaming at him. Blitzwing's optics narrowed in annoyance and he just gave a short curt nod in response. It was still  _ way _ too early to deal with Lugnut and his usual fanatical behaviour.

He and Lugnut were both supposed to be keeping watch as well as assisting Scrapper and Mixmaster in whatever way they could to keep the project going. But, considering they'd been spending much less time fighting Autobots as of late, Blitzwing and Lugnut had been left with a lot of free time on their servos. However Megatron promptly had taken away the option of using that time as they saw fit and had ordered them to help with the construction project. This despite the fact that neither he nor Lugnut knew anything when it came to the construction of space bridges'.

His greeting acknowledged, Lugnut then left Blitzwing to walk over to a large stack of boxes and began sorting through them. Blitzwing let his optics trail across the room one more time and was suddenly drawn to the small, male human locked in the cage. He was watching him closely and he'd seemingly been listening in on their conversation. Blitzwing faceplate violently switched to Hothead and he bared his denta at the man.

As soon as the human, who if Blitzwing remembered right was named Sumdac, noticed he'd been caught eavesdropping he immediately turned back to his work and tried to act as if he hadn’t been watching him. Blitzwing's optics lingered on him for a moment longer.

He didn't care much for the organic creatures that inhabited this planet. They were just weak and insignificant if you asked him. Sure, Sumdac had proven himself useful enough for Megatron to keep him prisoner, but humans as a whole were still well below Cybertronian life in Blitzwing's optics. He just didn't understand what Bumblebee saw in them that he liked so much as to consider one of them his best friend.

Either way, Blitzwing eventually turned away from the frail human as his faceplate to switch back to Icy and he got to work.

Blitzwing walked over to one of the unopened boxes and peered inside. It was filled with large, industrial sized bolts. He then brought up his personal data pad and began taking inventory of the supplies they had on hand. 

From time to time he'd glance up from his data pad to watch the Constructicons work, but they were apparently too busy arguing, soldering parts together and getting into embarrassing slap fights to notice his occasional staring. 

The main reason he and Lugnuts were there, aside from helping with menial tasks, was to look out for any “suspicious activity” from their new allies and to make sure they didn't attempt any form of sabotage to their space bridge plans.

Because even if they'd forgotten about it, both Mixmaster and Scrapper had been in close contact with the Autobots' after their initial activation. Megatron himself had admitted that the both of them were perhaps not the… brightest of bots. (A huge understatement if you asked Blitzwing) and were highly unlikely to try anything traitorous. Still, the Decepticon leader hadn't made it this far by simply letting things go, so in order to err on the side of caution he had instructed both Blitzwing and Lugnut to observe them as they worked.

It was honestly a little ironic that Blitzwing of all mechs had been chosen to watch the Constructicons in case they still harbored Autobot sympathies, considering Blitzwing was by far the highest risk of leaking important information. Of course, none of the other Decepticons knew anything about that, and if it were up to Blitzwing they never would. 

He drained the last of his oil and put down the empty barrel before continuing his documentation of their remaining supplies. Suddenly a voice rang out.

“Hey guys!” Blitzwing looked up from the data pad and Lugnut paused his self appointed task of sorting boxes as they both turned their helms to where Mixmaster was waving. “Can you help us carry this equipment over there?” He said, pointing to a pile of steel rebar that had been placed across the room.

Blitzwing quickly went back to looking over his data pad, so Lugnut took it upon himself to lend a servo. He took slow, lumbering steps from his own workstation and began gathering up the large metal rods. He then turned back to Mixmaster who pointed to the area he wanted them taken. What Lugnut had failed to take into account though, was just how long the rebars were and how close he still was to Blitzwing. So, as soon as Lugnut turned around, one of the metal beams smacked right into the side of Blitzwing's helm.

A loud ‘clang’ rang inside the cavern and Blitzwing was momentarily stunned as a deep throbbing pain had black spots dancing across his vision. He immediately cradled his aching helm with one servos. He stayed in that position for a few more moments until he'd recovered enough to look up towards Lugnut who only seemed to have just noticed what he'd done.

Blitzwing's optic narrowed dangerously before his mounting anger forced a violent switch to Hothead.

“You copper clad klutz!" He shouted angrily, still rubbing at his helm. "Watch what you're doing!” Having heard this, Lugnut turned back around causing the rebar he still had over his shoulder to go swinging once again towards Blitzwing's helm. Blitzwing had just enough time to quickly duck underneath it, but the near miss only served to enrage him further. “If you do that one more time I’ll shove that rebar right up your exhaust pipe!” Lugnuts main optic telescoped angrily down on him.

“You should've seen it coming.” Lugnut growled. Blitzwing clinched his denta, shoved the data pad in his sub space and took a few menacing steps forward until he was right up in Lugnuts faceplate. However, his threatening display didn't seem to imitate the larger con' in the slightest.

"Hey guys cool it!" Scrapper said, trying to de-escalate the situation. "It was just a mis-" But, his words fell on deaf audios as Blitzwing started yelling,

“How in Primus' name should I have seen that coming?!" He shouted, only getting angrier with every word that came out of Lugnut's mouth, "I was looking down at my datapad!”

“A true warrior would have simply dodged it!” Lugnut declared. and that was the final straw for Blitzwing.

Blitzwing angrily snatched one of the metal rods from Lugnuts arms, which he clearly hadn’t expected seeing as his grip on the rebar was fairly loose. Blitzwing then retaliated by gripping the metal rod like a baseball bat, and with both servos, swung it hard into Lugnut's flank. A deafening 'thud!' rang out as Lugnut was toppled to the ground, and Blitzwing just stood defiantly in front of his downed colleague.

“You wanna see a warrior?! I’ll show you a warrior!” He shouted. But before he could say anything else, Lugnut reached up and grabbed him around the waist. His sudden recovery was enough to catch Blitzwing off guard, and before he knew what was happening, he'd been dragged down onto the floor where Lugnut was quickly preparing to bash his face in. 

Shaking off the sudden reversal, Blitzwing grabbed at Lugnuts shoulder pauldrons before kicking his peds into Lugnut's abdomen with enough force to send them both flying away from each other.

He had just gotten back up on his peds as to his horror he heard a loud crash emanating from the direction he'd just thrown Lugnut.

He slowly turned around and saw that Lugnut had somehow managed to crash right into the section of space bridge the Constructicons had been working on and tt had been shattered into multiple pieces. Blitzwing felt his spark sink as he surveyed the damage, and reluctantly he made his way over.

"Way to go numb-nodes!, you destroyed our work!" Mixmaster huffed irritably, apparently not understanding the true seriousness of what they'd just just done.

Blitzwing completely ignored Lugnut as he drew closer, channeling his full focus to the damaged portion of the space bridge. His faceplate switched back to the more even tempered Icy as he used his monocle to further examine the wreckage. However, without a true understanding of the nuances of space bridge technology he really couldn't say how bad the damage really was or even if any of it was still salvageable. 

He bit his lip nervously as he looked through the broken pieces of twisted metal and loose bolts and desperately tried to think a way to  _ fix _ this before  _ he  _ found out and-

“What was that noise?” Blitzwing felt his frame grow cold with fear as he turned towards the entrance and saw their leader's blazing optics glaring down at him.

He immediately squared his shoulders, and stood at attention. Meanwhile Lugnut, who was still in the process of picking himself off the floor, simply chose to make a respectful bow instead.

“Oh, hey Megatron!” Mixmaster said casually. Clearly, still not fully understanding the situation, or even the proper 'customs' when addressing the Decepticon warlord. “Blitzwing and Lugnut just had a small scuffle and broke the part we were working on.” He explained, a small amount of frustration bleeding into his voice.

Blitzwing internally cringed at having the spotlight put on him, and he felt his spark pulse quicken with anxiety as he waited for Megatron's verdict.

Megatron's gaze traveled slowly to his two soldiers and lingered there. The cold oppression of those crimson optics staring at him had Blitzwing feeling as if they were a physical force dragging him down. Eventually, Megatron turned his attention back to the Constructicons.

“How much progress has been lost?” He asked. Scrapped shrugged and walked next to Blitzwing so he could see better. He put a servo to his chin as he looked it over; seemingly calculating the amount of damage as well as the time needed for repairs in his helm.

“Maybe a day of work?" He said, somewhat uncertainty. "But, only if we start fixing it right now.” Megatron gave a small nod of confirmation, before once again addressing both Constructicons.

“Why don’t you and Mixmaster take a short oil break? He offered, with a smile. "I’m just going to have a quick  _ chat  _ with Lugnut and Blitzwing.” The added emphasis of the word 'chat' wasn't lost on Blitzwing, and he had no doubt that the offer of oil was nothing less than pure manipulation. Megatron's less than genuine smile was proof enough of that. But the constructicons, simple minded as they were, seemed none the wiser to Megatron's ploy to make them leave. 

Mixmaster and Scrapper shared a quick glance before shrugging in acceptance and started walking away. Completely, oblivious to the fact that this ‘chat’ was going to get  _ very _ ugly. Only after the sounds of their shared footsteps had completely vanished from earshot did Megatron show his true colors. 

“So” Megatron said, slowly turning back to his two lieutenants. He wasn’t smiling anymore. "What were you fighting about that was so important it was worth the risk of losing nearly a deca cycle of work?” He loomed over them dangerously, daring one of them to speak up first. 

“Lugnut...” Blitzwing started and immediately felt Megatron's cold optics zero in on him. “He hit me with a rebar.” Blitzwing said, some of his earlier irritation still present in his voice. Megatron then turned the full force of his cold, unfeeling stare to Lugnut.

“Is this true?” Lugnut bowed even deeper at his master's words.

“My lord, it was truly by accident." Lugnut pleaded, "It was never my intention to hit him!" He then raised his head and glared hatefully at the triple changer. "Besides, Blitzwing was the first to escalate it into a brawl!” Blitzwing's faceplate switched to Hothead and he snarled down at Lugnut. 

“Only, after you almost hit me again!” He shouted in defense. Lugnut finally pulled himself from the rubble and walked closer until he was barely an inch away from Blitzwing's face.

“You should have been able to dodge it!” 

“I was looking at my-”

“Silence!” The powerful command had both of them immediately backing down and shutting up. “I don’t care what your meaningless squabble was about.  _ Both _ of your actions could have lost us  _ days _ of progress”. His voice was filled with a cold rage that made Blitzwing want to be literally anywhere but here. But despite that, so did he hold his position, knowing that if he did anything else this whole situation was just going to get worse.

Megatron took a few menacing steps closer. The sound echoing ominously in the otherwise silent room. Blitzwing looked up for a second once the mech had stopped in front of them and was met by the burning red of Megatron's optics before Blitzwing quickly averted his gaze. Their leader was usually very well composed even in the worst of situations and rarely did he ever put his true feeling on display. But, what Blitzwing had seen in his leader's optics left no doubt as to what was about to happen. Blitzwing barely had the time to clinch his denta in preparation before Megatron delivered a savage punch to Blitzwing's faceplate. Lugnut apparently got the same treatment if the harsh clang of metal on metal was anything to go by. 

Blitzwing reeled back from the vicious attack seeing stars. He had to take a moment just to find his balance again as he staggered under the sheer effort of keeping himself upright. A moment went by before he tasted the tang of fresh energon in his mouth and realised his lip stung. He let his glossa trail over the cracks in his upper lip plate as more energon paved a trail down his chin. But before Blitzwing could even hope to begin wiping the blood off his face, Megatron once again made his displeasure known. 

“Building this space bridge is our  _ top priority-  _ ” Suddenly Blitzwing felt a harsh servo grab him by the back of his neck. The hold was just tight enough to be painful but not enough to cause damage. Still, the looming threat had his whole frame freezing with fear, and he had to force himself not to bend his neck or grip the offending appendage in response to it being so close to his more delicate circuitry. “-and we can’t afford to lose any more time.  _ So _ , keep any infighting to yourselves,  _ or _ fight where you can’t create anymore problems.” He said, glaring at the both of them. “Do I make myself clear?” 

“Yes master!” Lugnut cried, sounding devastated over inadvertently disappointing his leader. Blitzwing’s faceplate switched back to Icy before he gave his own apology.

“Yes my lord, it won’t happen again.” He reassured, Megatron's optics linger on him for a moment longer before he finally let go of both him and Lugnut.

“Good," he said, the rage having left his tone. "Now get back to work.” And with that, Megatron turned on his heel and walked back the way he'd come as if nothing had happened.

Blitzwing slowly felt his stiffened posture relax once Megatron was out of sight and he began to rub subtly at the back of his neck. He could still feel the lingering pain of the punch, but he'd taken much worse punishments, and it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Blitzwing had honestly expected it to be worse, but perhaps if the Constructicons had given a different answer about how fast the work could be salvaged he would have- Blitzwing shook his helm and felt a shiver go down his back struts. Never mind. He didn’t want to think about it. 

Blitzwing went back to documenting supplies, but even after Megatron had left, the feelings of dread still lingered. He tried to push it to the back of his mind as he typed, but the longer he did the stronger the urge to use the data pad message a certain Autobot became. He forced himself to ignore it. 

Later, he promised himself. He'd contact Bumblebee later when he wasn’t surrounded by other Decepticons.

* * *

Bumblebee was finally back at base after completing the city assigned road work. He and Sari had settled in front of the giant monitor and were currently working on their playlist.

By that time the world outside had gotten cold and dark, but it was still warm and cozy inside the base.

Both of them could hear Prowl watching his nightly- (and in Bumblebee's opinion boring) nature documentary, Optimus and Ratchet were talking about something, and the distant sounds of Bulkhead working on a new art project could be heard.

“How about this one?” Sari asked, selecting a song. It had a fast tempo and a somewhat techno sounding beat. Ordinarily Bumblebee would have liked it, but right now it wasn't really what he was looking for, so he shook his helm.

“Nah, we've already added at least 5 songs of that genre.” He said, “Do you think you could find something… Slower?” Sari gave him a fake look of astonishment.

“You’re actually asking for something slow? Have you been secretly replaced with Wasp again? What have you done to the real Bumblebee!?” Both of them shared a quick laugh, before Bumblebee shook his helm.

“No, Wasp didn't get me." he snickered, "I just want to try something new, you know?” Sari shrugged.

“If you're sure, just give me a moment.” She went back to typing on the keyboard and soon a new song started playing “It’s kinda old, but I think it’s called ‘I Can't Help Falling In Love With You' did you mean something like this?" It was certainly much slower than the previous song, and a lot different from the usual songs Bumblebee listened to, but it was still nice. Also, it was a love song. Bumblebee had never really understood the appeal of these kinds of songs before, but after falling in love himself, he could see why they were so popular. These days whenever he heard a love song he couldn't help but start thinking about his own special someone. He was dragged back to the present when he heard Sari start to giggle besides him. He turned towards her with a look of confusion.

“What?” He asked, Sari gave him a smirk.

“You're smiling!” Bumblebee raised his digits to his lips only to feel that they'd formed a noticeable grin without him even realizing it. Somewhat embarrassed at being caught, Bumblebee immediately schooled his expression into something more neutral. He was just about to start making up excuses to defend himself when Sari cut him off. “Were you thinking of someone?” Bumblebee felt both his cheek grow warm and his spark start pulsing anxiously at her question.

“I was not!” He shouted defensively. Sari just continued to grin and started poking him with her tiny fingers.

“Do you have a  _ crush _ on someone?” She asked playfully. Bumblebee crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her.

“I don’t have a 'crush'!" He said, making air quotes.  _ He had a whole boyfriend thank you very much!  _

“Bumblebee and someone sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Bumblebee's cheeks were so hot at this point you could probably fry an egg on his face.

“I don't have a crush on anyone!" He shrieked, whilst trying to put his servo over her mouth to stop her embarrassing singing. He felt her laughing harder under his servo, before she eventually grabbed it and pulled it off her face.

“I’m just kidding!” She said, still laughing, “But, you should have seen your face!” she collapsed into a new round of laughter and Bumblebee, still scowling and blushing furiously, watched until she finally regained her composer.

“Can you please just add that song?” 

“Alright, alright.” Sari said, her words still punctuated by giggles. She went back to the computer and started the download. “That’s going to be song 32!” She declared, as she scrolled through all the songs they'd already chosen. Bumblebee just watched the screen as the titles flew by. The songs they'd picked out were from all kinds of different genres, making it a perfect mix of styles and feelings. Bumblebee nodded, as he took it all in.

“I think that's enough for now, we should prob-” But, before he could finish that thought the data pad in his subspace vibrated.

“We should, what?” Sari asked, not understanding why he'd suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Her question snapped Bumblebee out of his surprise .

“Ah, it's a- just-just give me a sec.” He stammered, quickly turning around and pulling out his data pad so he could see who it was from. “Neapolitan ice cream” Was highlighted right at the top. He opened the message.

'Call, 3 minutes?' Was all it said. Bumblebee quickly typed out a 'Sure!' before subspacing the device and turning back to Sari.

“I was just going to say we should burn it to the CD now.” He said, attempting to act as if nothing had happened since he'd answered Blitzwing's message. Sari nodded.

“Okay, I’ll get it started then!” She said, rubbing her hands together. Bumblebee gave her a grateful smile. 

“You do that… I’m just gonna' you know, get some air”. She looked at him oddly for a moment before her expression morphed into something closer to concern.

“Okay.” She said, quietly. Bumblebee tried to give her a reassuring smile.

“Hey, I’ll be back in just a minute, you won't even notice I’m gone!” He said jauntily, as he walked to the main entrance. He could feel everyones' eyes watching him as he left, but none of them said anything, and as soon as he'd got the door open he slipped out without another word.

The one good thing Master Disaster kidnapping him was that no one ever questioned any of the weird habits he'd pick up. His: ‘I'm going to get some fresh air’ was never seen as suspicious. After, all the slag he'd been put through during his time on the show, at least it had given him a 'get out of the base free' card to pull when he needed it. Not that he was blind to his teammates' increasingly concerned expressions, but at this point no one had confronted him directly.

Once outside, he made his way to one of the buildings far corners where he knew for a fact there was a blind spot. He leaned back against the wall and tapped his ped impatiently as he waited.

Finally, his comm link sparked to life.

“Bumblebee?” Blitzwing's voice a quiet whisper as he spoke, but even that was enough to bring a smile to Bumblebee's lips.

“Hey, Blitzy,” Bumblebee whispered back, trying to convey how excited he was to hear the other mech while still maintaining a hushed tone. He definitely didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to himself by being too loud.

“Hello, love." Bumblebee couldn't help but bounce excitedly in place as Blitzwing called him 'love'. "How was your day?”

“It was good,” Bumblebee replied, as he started abesemindly pacing. “Though we had to work on some roads in old Detroit, but that's pretty normal these days." He sighed “Not even a single criminal to fight.” He said disappointment clear in his voice “I’m really aching for some action! So feel free to show up and try to steal some stuff or whatever you cons do, that would at least liven things up  _ and _ I would get to see you” He then stopped to ask his own question, "What about you? How’s your day been?” 

“It… it was rough.” He said slowly, as if he wasn't sure what words he could use to properly describe it. “But it’s much better now that I get to hear your voice.” Bumblebee smiled so hard, he worried his mouth might get stuck like Sari was always threatening would happen.

“I’m really glad I get to hear yours too!” He cried, before immediately slapping a servo over his mouth. He stayed completely still for a few seconds just listening to his surroundings. Thankfully none of his teammates seemed to have heard his random outburst, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. He then heard an amused snicker from the other end of the line.

“You just can't be quiet can you?” He heard Blitzwing teased.

“Neither can you when you’re on literally any other faceplate.” Bumblebee hissed back. He heard a whirl and then a quiet growl from the other end.

“Yes I can” 

“Sure you can,” Bumblebee said, before changing the subject so Blitzwing wouldn't have time to raise his voice. “So what was so rough about today?” The other end of the line went quiet, which honestly gave Bumblebee a bad feeling, but before he could pester Blitzwing into giving an answer a barley stifled cackle came through.

“I can’t tell yoooou.” Random seemed to be having a difficult time keeping his voice down as he spoke, that particular persona not having the best track record at controlling himself. “It’s a secret.” Bumblebee let out a quiet chuckle. 

“You can tell me, I’m really good at keeping secrets.” He heard the line go quiet again.

“...Okay, do you wanna hear one of my secrets?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t tell anyone, but… I’m dating an Autobot.” Bumblebee let out an exaggeratedly fake gasp of shock.

“Really?! How scandalous!” Bumblebee cringed as his voice accidentally broke out of the whisper he'd been trying to maintain. He heard Random snickering at him from the other side of the line. “Oh shut it you-”

“Bee?” Bumblebee froze as someone new called his name. “Bumblebee?” He heard them getting closer, and it was then that Bumblebee realized it was Optimus. He felt anxiety threaten to swallow him whole as he was faced with how close he was of getting caught. He quickly whispered into his comm link.

“Boss bot is out here looking for me, I've got to go, sorry." As he reached to switch off his comlink he murmured a quiet 'Love you' then the line went dead. He had just turned to go back around the corner of the factory when he walked right into Optimus. He must not have been paying attention either; because he looked just as surprised as Bumblebee. Optimus was looking down at the minibot with a slight look of concern, but Bumblebee ignored that and instead gave him an awkward smile.

“Hi ya Boss bot, whad'ya need?” Bumblebee said, trying to sound casual and not at all like he'd just been participating in treason with the Decepticons' resident triple changer.

“I thought I heard your voice. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything's fine.” Bumblebee said with a confidence he didn't actually feel. Optimus didn't seem swayed by his attempt to brush off his concerns as he continued to stare down at Bumblebee.

“Okay…You do know you can tell me anything right? I'd be happy to lend a listening audio if you ever feel the need to get something off your chest, even about literally anything. Any time yo-”

“Optimus,” Bumblebee said, cutting him off. “I swear I'm fine. Really.” Bumblebee reassured him. He didn’t know what to make of Optimus’ concern. Sure, it was nice that he seemed to care so much, but all his worrying had almost gotten Bumblebee caught in the act. And besides, no matter how much Optimus believed that Bumblebee could “Literally tell him anything” the truth was the Autobot leader was one of the  _ last _ people Bumblebee would ever tell his secrets too, maybe only second to Ratchet. If Optimus found out about his relationship with Blitzwing he'd probably put him under house arrest or at the very least forbade them from ever meeting up ever again. And Bumblebee knew how it looked okay?  The fear that Blitzwing was somehow hurting him, or otherwise manipulating him would make perfect sense to his teammates, but unfortunately that also meant Bumblebee had to be extra careful so their misplaced concern wouldn't end up doing more harm than good. 

Seeing that his offer wasn’t going to be accepted, Optimus just sighed and rubbed tiredly at his faceplate.

“Yeah, okay, just… Just so you know.” Bumblebee gave him a short nod  of acknowledgement.

“I've got it." He said. Their conversation kind of died after that and they were soon left standing there in an awkward silence. "Soooo... maybe we should go back inside?” It seemed like Optimus had only just now realised that they were both just standing outside in the dark, and quickly responded with affirmative to Bumblebee's suggestion.

“Yeah, you coming with?” Bumblebee shrugged carelessly.

“Sure.” He said, as they both started walking back. The warmth of the base was a welcome change after standing around in the freezing cold, and after Bumblebee had made sure the door was shut, he made his way back to Sari so he could check her progress with the CD.

* * *

Blitzwing was sitting at the foot of his recharge slab, his final oil ration for the day lying abandoned beside him. Bumblebee had just ended their nightly call, and already an intense feeling of longing had settled over Blitzwing's frame. It urged him to fly, to transform and go find Bumblebee. But, that just wasn’t possible.

Blitzwing let out an exhausted sigh before laying down and shuttering his optics.

If he really strained his audio receptors he could just barely hear the distant sounds of Megatron talking with someone over the Decepticon only working computer monitor. Try as he might, he couldn’t make out the words.

The best time to call Bumblebee, other than during his patrol flights, was when Megatron was talking to someone. Lugnut was currently on patrol, and the constructions were either recharging or chatting with each other. During times like these, where everyone was distracted, there was a comparatively lower risk of being caught.

Blitzwing knew that if his relationship with Bumblebee was ever discovered it would end  _ very _ badly for him. Megatron was not known to take kindly to the people he'd proclaimed to be traitors. Starscream was a (surprisingly) living example of that.

He laid motionless on his berth for a moment longer before he picked up his recently discarded datapad and started typing; his Random persona still in control.

“Goody, goody night my sweet honey Bee!” He sent it off, hugging the pad to his chest as he waited for a response. 

He needed to wait until Bumblebee sent his last message so he could delete them all before he fell into recharge. It was a good 10 minutes that he fought off the tendrils of sleep, before he finally felt his data pad start to vibrate. He quickly unlocked it with his password and saw that he had a new message from a contact named “Unknown”. Blitzwing had chosen consciously  _ not _ to name Bumblebees contact in the hope that an unfamiliar person sending him messages would attract less suspicion if someone were to ever comb through his data pad history. 

Blitzwing quickly opened the message.

‘Good night <3’

Blitzwing's already wide grin became even bigger, before he switched back to Icy with a tired sigh. He knew what he had to do now.

He input the command to erase Bumblebee's latest message, and then his own, wiping all history from his device. He wished he could keep some of the messages, so he could read them again and again, but keeping them was a huge risk he wasn’t willing to take. And besides, if he was caught just because he wasn't smart enough to cover his tracks, that would just be embarrassing.

He switched off his data pad and put it back in his subspace, before grabbing the last of his oil and finishing it.

He could really go for another, as the amount he'd been given wasn't enough to completely fill his fuel tank, but Megatron had made it  _ very  _ clear that he wasn’t allowed. Not sticking to the ration regulations the Decepticon leader had put into place would end in severe punishment, and frankly, Blitzwing didn’t consider grabbing another oil barrel to be worth the risk.

So, instead he just laid there, staring up at the stone ceiling. Hoping that if he focused hard enough he'd be able to conjure up the familiar warmth of a much smaller frame pressed against his. Eventually, he drifted off into recharge.


	3. May I have this dance?

When Bumblebee arrived at the abandoned warehouse he was almost an hour early. He'd set out just as the last remaining bits of sunlight had disappeared from the night sky and he could be absolutely  _ certain _ that everyone was deeply in recharge. The reason he'd arrived at their meeting place so much earlier than normal was because he needed the extra time to make his preparations.

The first thing he did was start up the generator, causing the warehouse to be filled with the soft glow of numerous tiny lights. He then sat his borrowed CD player on top of a wooden box and connected it to the generator's power outlet. 

That done, he then began the arduous task of moving all the crates and stacked pallets from their original spot so there could be a big enough space in the middle of the room for a dance floor. It was hard work, especially since some of the boxes were almost as tall as he was, but taking into account just how massive of a mech Blitzwing was, he knew he'd need all the space he could get.

Finally, after all of the boxes and other miscellaneous items had been moved out of the way, Bumblebee vented heavily and looked over his work. There was now a large empty space in the middle of the room. Perfect for what he had planned.  _ ‘Yeah, this'll totally work! It'll be great!’  _ He assured himself with a confident nod.

He then jumped on top of one of the empty boxes and dangled his peds off the side as he waited for Blitzwing to show up.

As he sat there, he couldn’t help obsessively looking at his chronometer and counting down the minutes as he waited for his special someone. Thankfully, it wasn't long before the distinct sound of jet engines filled the air, before abruptly ending with a resounding ‘THUD’.

Bumblebee shot up from where he had been sitting and ran outside. He exited the building just in time to see Blitzwing rising from the small crater he'd made when he landed. Bumblebee smirked and pulled out his stingers; before pointing them at the larger mech.

“You looking for an aft kicking, Blitzbrain?!” He quipped. Blitzwing looked down at him with cold, unfeeling optics and lowered his cannons.

“Do you have a death wish, insect?” They stood like that for a moment longer, before Bumblebee finally gave him a playful wink. Blitzwing lips pulled up into a small smile and he  _ might've _ winked back, but it was a little hard to tell, considering his current faceplate only had one optic that actually could blink.

He let his cannons rise out of their firing position, before kneeling down and extending his arms towards the minibot.

Bumblebee didn't waste any time after seeing the offer and immediately took off running at full speed into Blitzwing’s awaiting arms. Blitzwing easily scooped him up once he was close enough and they both shared an eager kiss. As soon as their lips parted ways Bumblebee beamed up at the larger mech. He couldn’t wait to show Blitzwing his recent project and being patient had never been one of his strong points.

“Put me down a sec!” He said suddenly, as he wiggled with excitement. Blitzwing lifted his optic ridge at his odd behaviour, but did as he'd been requested and let the minibot down.

As soon as his peds hit the ground Bumblebee started off towards the warehouse. Realizing he wasn’t being immediately followed, he turned around and beckoned the triple changer forward with his servo.

“Come on! I really want to show you something!” Blitzwings confusion only seemed to increase at Bumblebee's insistence.

“Show me what?” He asked warily, seemingly worried Bumblebee was about to walk him into some kind of prank. 

“I’m about to show you!" He insisted, trying not to let Blitzwing's paranoia dampen his good mood. "Just hurry up and take my stupid servo!” Blitzwing searched Bumblebee's expression for any hints of trickery, but seeing as Bumblebee didn't seem anything but earnest, he reached down hesitantly and took Bumblebee's ‘stupid' servo in his.

Bumblebee immediately started trying to drag Blitzwing along with him. He knew he'd never actually be able to move the big mech anywhere, but thankfully Blitzwing must not have really wanted to resist; because he allowed himself to be pulled along.

The first thing Blitzwing saw when they entered the building was the newly opened area. The fact that the leftover pallets and crates that they'd been using for furniture had seemingly been rearranged did nothing to lessen his confusion.

Blitzwing paused just long enough to close the door behind them before he continued letting Bumblebee pull him further inside. Just as they made it into the middle of the cleared space Bumblebee let go of him. He then held up his servos in the universal motion for 'stay'.

“Just stay there for a minute!” Bumblebee told him “I've got to get the surprise ready for you!” Blitzwing looked down at him with an expression of astonishment before his faceplate was overtaken by Random.

“Oh, a surprise? I love surprises! What is it?! What is it?!” He shrieked excitedly. 

“Just hold on and I’ll show you!” Bumblebee said with a grin, before running over to the CD player. He took his special mix CD out of his subspace and inserted it into the small boom box. Just as the disc left his servo he could feel the small thread of anxiety he'd felt all day start to increase. ' _ What if he doesn't like it? What if he thinks it's stupid?' _ Bumblebee quickly shook his helm and tried to push those kinds of thoughts away.  _ 'No this is going to be great!'  _ He told himself and before he could change his mind about going through with this he pressed play. The room was uncomfortably silent for a few moments as the only sound came from the spinning of the disc in the CD player. However, that soon changed as the entire warehouse was suddenly filled with the thumping beat of fast paced techno music.

Bumblebee quickly turned around so he could see Blitzwing's reaction. Blitzwing for his part just looked stunned at the sudden turn of events, and stood motionless in the middle of the room seemingly trying to comprehend what was going on. Eventually, his faceplate spun back to Icy and he looked down at Bumblebee in confusion.

“What is happening?” He asked, sounding a bit dazed. A nervous chuckle escaped Bumblebee's intake as he looked up at the triple changer.

“I made our own earth version of Jump Joint!" He said excitedly, "A Jump Joint 2.0 if you will!” His grin widened as he continued. “I wasn't sure what kind of earth music you'd like so I just chose a bunch of songs from, like every genre. I figured that way there'd be at least one song on this CD you would like, and I know you don’t really like humans, but music is universal! You don’t even have to understand the language to like a song!” Blitzwing just continued to stare down at him. His continued silence had Bumblebee briefly starting to wonder if he might've made a mistake, but a few more awkward moments later, and Blitzwing finally seemed to find his voice.

“Why?” Bumblebee lifted and optic ridge.

“Why what?” 

“Why did you do this for me?” He asked slowly “I have nothing to give you back.” Bumblebee shrugged and gave a dismissive wave.

“You don’t have to give me back anything.” He explained “I did this because I wanted to do something nice for you! That’s all!” Bumblebee could see that his answer only seemed to confound Blitzwing further as the triple changer continued to stare at him as if he'd suddenly pulled a rabbit out of a hat. But Then, slowly, his lips pulled upwards into a soft smile and his optics seemed to light up with something Bumblebee wasn't even sure he could describe. He looked genuinely happy, and the thing that made Bumblebee's spark feel like it might just beat right out of his chest plates was that he'd been the one to cause it.

Blitzwing's small grin eventually forced a switch back to Random and he began listening Intently to the current song. He bobbed his helm as he got a feel for its rhythm, and then he started dancing. 

Bumblebee just decided to sit back and watch as Blitzwing danced to the music. His dancing style, if you even could call it that, was unpredictable and didn’t seem to resemble any dancing style or choreography Bumblebee had seen on either earth or Cybertron. If anything he seemed to just let himself get lost in the beat, not seeming to care how he looked or who was watching. And even if his movements weren't the most graceful there was still something captivating about the way he moved. His dancing probably wouldn't be appreciated by most people, but like a lot of opinions people seemed to hold about the triple changer, Bumblebee didn't agree. Blitzwing was unique in almost every way and Bumblebee thought he looked amazing as he continued to watch the other mech enjoy himself.

Blitzwing stopped rather suddenly and abruptly turned towards him with a smile that only seemed to grow weider as he beckoned him towards the empty dance floor in a silent offer to join him.

Bumblebee gave him a cocky grin of his own as he swaggered confidently away from the CD player and started breakdancing next to Blitzwing. His own dancing style (which Prowl had likened to a barely choreographed seizure) was more inspired by the humans he'd watched on the streets of Detroit than anything that might have been popular on Cybertron, but it still fit well alongside Blitzwing's own version of 'freestyle'. 

They danced like that for a while longer, their playlist having hit something of a streak with mostly fast paced dance songs, but before long the last of the techno music faded away and a new song began playing. This one was much slower, and had an almost calming air about it, forcing both Bumblebee and Blitzwing to stop their more fast pace dancing.

Bumblebee noticed that Blitzwing had stopped moving as he seemed to be trying to get a feel for the new rhythm. He saw him beginning to subtly sway back and forth on his peds to the slower pace of the song before something seemed to click in his helm and he turned to Bumblebee with a playful grin.

"Heads up!" He cried, and before Bumblebee had time to fully register it, Blitzwing had already grabbed him around his waist. He then hoisted the smaller mech in his arms and walked to the edge of the dance floor; before setting him down on a tower of wooden pallets. 

Bumblebee swayed a bit as he recovered from being picked up so suddenly, before he looked up at Blitzwing in confusion. 

“What was that about?” He asked with a bit of a chuckle. Blitzwing just grinned at him before switching to Icy, he then made a half bow and elegantly extended his servo.

“May I have this dance?” He asked, his optics shining with mirth. Bumblebee stared at the offered servo for a moment, before looking back up to meet Blitzwing's optics.

“I really don’t know how to dance with a partner.” He said, “The only dancing I've done has been alone to fast pace music.” Blitzwing didn't seem the least bit discouraged by his answer.

“It’s not so hard." He said, "I’ll teach you.” The words barely had time to exit Blitzwing's intake before he was already nudging Bumblebee servos into the right positions. Blitzwing gently placed his right servo against Bumblebee's lower back, before encouraging Bumblebee to hold onto his upper arm. He then intertwined the digits of their remaining servos and raised their shared grip loosely. “We start like this.” He said, nodding to their form. “You’re really supposed to be able to move around more, but you're a bit too tiny for that.” He added, looking thoughtfully down at the stack pallets that had become Bumblebee's elevated dance floor. It would be a little tricky to dance like this, but Blitzwing seemed confident they could make it work. Bumblebee shot him a small glare at the mention of his height.

“Hey! I’m not going to get any taller, so take it or leave it!” He huffed, Blitzwing just gave him a small smirk.

“I guess we can just sway slightly.” he said, as he led Bumblebee into the first few steps. They started by moving side to side as the gentle rhythm of the song surrounded them.

After the initial learning curve had passed by, they continued their rather unconventional dancing. The dance steps themselves weren’t really that hard to pick up, but it was made a little difficult considering Bumblebee had to perform them whilst balancing precariously on top of a stack of pallets just to be tall enough to reach his dance partner.

Still, even if their dancing was a bit clumsy, it was still nice. It wasn't like they were in a dance competition, and were being graded on how many of the steps they did “correctly” they could do anything they wanted right now; and besides, they usually didn't do things 99% right most of the time anyway. Right now they could do a slow dance their own way, in their own time, and that just made it a thousand times more special.

Bumblebee gazed up at Blitzwing with a loving smile, and Blitzwing responding with his own small, soft grin, his optics shimmering with joy. 

Blitzwing slowly leaned forward so their forehead could touch, his arms tightening around the minibot as they continued to sway to the music. His crimson, mismatched optics gazed softly into Bumblebee's bright, blue ones. 

Right now, pressed so close to Blitzwing's warm plating, Bumblebee wasn't sure he'd ever felt so happy. He loved this, he could already tell that this was going to be one of the memories he would treasure forever. No matter how far off into the future his relationship with Blitzwing took him, he'd never forget how he felt in this moment, It could be thousands of years later and he'd still remember everything perfectly. He never wanted this song to end, If only they could both stay like this forever.

But unfortunately all good things have to come to an end, and just as the song's gentle melody had slowly started fading away, Blitzwing guided Bumblebee into a little spin before they parted ways, a more fast paced song starting to play over the radio.

Bumblebee beamed up at the big mech as he was released, before his smile turned somewhat awkward and he rubbed the back of his helm.

“Do you like the gift?” He asked, suddenly feeling a little bashful. “I know it’s not exactly like Jump Joint, but…” He trailed off. Blitzwing just looked at him with a soft smile before leaning forward and planted a kiss on top of Bumblebee's helm.

“It’s better.” He responded softly. Bumblebee stared at him in shock.

“Really!?" He cried, "But-but you loved that place!” Blitzwing nodded.

“Yes I did, and I still do, but this is better.” Bumblebee just continued to gawk at him.

“Why?” Blitzwing let out a huff of amusement.

“Because you're here, and you made it just for me." He said ,before poking Bumblebee in the forehead. "Idiot." 

Bumblebee frowned at him and rubbed at the spot he'd been poked.

“You’re the idiot!” He said with a huff, before his lips quirked into a tiny smirk. “Though, you're a better dancer than I thought. You didn’t step on my peds even once.” Blitzwing just rolled his optics.

“If I had stepped on your peds, I’m pretty sure you wouldn't have peds anymore." He said in a perfect deadpan. 

“Yeah, and I don't think Ratchet would've been thrilled about that.” He responded in an even dryer tone, “I’d also have a field day trying to explain how I even got injured.” He suddenly grinned. "Well, you see Ratchet, my giant _oaf_ of a Decepticon boyfriend accidentally stepped on my peds when we danced!” Bumblebee let out an amused snicker “Ratchet would fragging _flip_!”

Blitzwing's faceplate switched to Hothead with a whirl.

“Who are you calling an oaf?!” He shouted, but Bumblebee just let out another chuckle.

“You, ya big…” Bumblebee suddenly cut himself off as he felt the words die on his glossa. Blitzwings usually, angry persona looked confused as Bumblebee's expression abruptly turned from playful teasing to genuine concern. He lifted an optic ridge at the sudden tonal shift, seemingly uncertain what could have brought it on.

“Is something wrong?” He asked, sounding confused. Bumblebees weakly lifted a digit and pointed towards Blitzwing's faceplate.

“Wha-what happened to your lip?” he asked hesitantly. A silver line ran over Hothead's upper lip, an indication that he'd recently been wounded and was still in the process of healing. Blitzwing absentmindedly ran his glossa over the still healing cut as he realized what Bumblebee must have seen. His faceplate abruptly changed back to Icy, his expression having closed down to almost nothing.

“It’s nothing." He insisted, "Just a scratch.” His curt answer failed to satisfy Bumblebee in the slightest. 

“Yeah, I can see that!” Bumblebee huffed, “But how did you get it?” Blitzwing went quiet for a moment before his faceplate suddenly switched back to Hothead.

“I was punched for acting foolish, if you must know.” He said brusquely, Blitzwing seemed to expect Bumblebee to make a quip about him being an idiot, but the expected lighthearted teasing never came. Bumblebee just stared at him.

“You got punched?” Blitzwing nodded, “By who?” Blitzwing went quiet again as he suddenly found it difficult to meet Bumblebee's optics. Blitzwing's unwillingness to look at him was all the information Bumblebee needed. If he'd gotten into another fight with Lugnut, Blitzwing would have been calling  _ Lugnut _ the fool, not himself. So, that only left one option.

“Was it Megatron?” He asked gently. Blitzwing still refused to look directly at Bumblebee and continued staring at the floor.

”I've had much worse," He murmured, "It really is just a scratch, you don’t have to worry about me.” Bumblebee gave him a hard glare that said he was not about to let this go.

“That still doesn't answer my question.” He said, before continuing in a much louder voice. "And don’t you even try to lie about this! I’ll know if you do!” Blitzwing's faceplate switched back to icy and he scoffed.

“That’s highly unlikely,” Blitzwing said in a dry tone. Bumblebee knew that Blitzwing was probably right, he was a Decepticon after all, it was right there in the name. Still, regardless of his opinion that he could lie himself out of this, Bumblebee just continued to scowl at him as he impatiently tapped his ped, waiting for an answer.

Finally, Blitzwing let out an exhausted sigh as he realized he wasn’t going to be able to make Bumblebee drop the subject. 

“Yes.” He admitted. 

“That fragger!” Bumblebee shouted, the angered words bubbling out of his intake before he could even register saying them. Bumblebee could feel his energon boiling in his lines as he began to pace angrily on top of the pallets. “I swear to Primus, when I get my servos on him I’ll-I’ll-I’ll-” Bumblebee let out a frustrated garble of white noise, too angry at this point to even form words. “I can’t believe he did that to you!" Bumblebee cried, "He’s such an aft!”

“It was my own fault.” Blitzwing said, as he watched Bumblebee's angered movements. “I made a mistake.”

Bumblebee suddenly stopped his frantic pacing and pointed an accusing digit at him.

“Oh no, you don't! I am  _ not _ letting you cover for him!” Blitzwing scowled slightly and was about to speak, but Bumblebee abruptly cut him off before he could utter a single word. “Don’t even try to argue with me about this! You know I’m right and he shouldn’t have done that to you!” Blitzwing scoffed.

“My mistake could have caused major problems, and for that I had to face the consequences. It’s just that simple.”

“That still doesn't make what he did okay!” Bumblebee refuted. Blitzwing's faceplate switched back to Hothead as he let out an annoyed huff.

“It’s just a scratch!" He shouted, "I'm sorry that the Decepticons' aren't all 'buddy, buddy 'I would give me life for you' and all that other Autobot slag! In my faction we fight each other! I fight them and they fight me, getting hurt is normal!” Bumblebee just glared at Blitzwing with a look of frustration. He already hated seeing Blitzwing get hurt, but it was worse knowing that Megatron could potentially be treating him terribly the moment he got back to his base. Bumblebee clinched his servos into fists. 

Bumblebee hated it to the bottom of his spark. If only he were a stronger, bigger bot he'd go find Megatron wherever he was hiding and punch in his stupid faceplate. He knew it was just wishful thinking on his part, and if he ever actually did end up trying to start a fight with Megatron, he'd just be signing his own death warrant, but there still had to be some way to make him stop hurting Blitzwing. And then like a lightning strike, it hit him.

“You could just leave!” Bumblebee exclaimed.

It was the perfect plan! If Blitzwing left the Decepticons then he wouldn’t have to work under Megatron or the Decepticons anymore! He wouldn’t have to fight just to get by and Megatron wouldn't be able to punish him! And the two of them would be able to meet up more often! it was a great idea!

The room turned quiet after Bumblebee's sudden outburst, and Blitzwing just looked at him with a shocked expression. It seemed like Bumblebee's words had actually managed to take him off guard.

“Leave?” He asked, sure that he must've misheard Bumblebee.

”Yeah! Just quite the Decepticons!” Blitzwing just stared at Bumblebee for another long moment, before his faceplate switched to Random and he fell into a heaving fit of laughter.

Bumblebee was honestly a little surprised by the sudden reaction as he watched Blitzwing laugh so hard he was pretty sure he was going to laugh himself sick. Bumblebee however, wasn’t laughing, he started to scowl the longer the fit continued and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for the triple changer to finish laughing it up.

Blitzwing hysterics continued until he actually got a good look at Bumblebee's sour expression, causing him to stop laughing long enough for Icy to return. 

“You’re being serious?” he asked in disbelief, Bumblebee nodded.

“Dead serious.” Blitzwing just stared at Bumblebee in complete bewilderment as he tried to comprehend the words that had just come out of the minibots mouth. Blitzwing's expression eventually morphed into something more grim as he started speaking.

“You honestly think I could just leave?" He asked incredulously, "Megatron  _ made _ me.” He emphasized as he gestured towards his frame. “I've become one of his top lieutenants and I'm his  _ only  _ triple changer. Do you really think he'd just let me go?” Bumblebee rolled his optics.

“I’m not saying you should turn in your two week resignation and then tell him where you’re going. Just pack up your stuff and leave.” Bumblebee explained, as if he really believed Blitzwing could just stroll out of the Decepticon base with a casual 'it's not working out'.

Blitzwing faceplate suddenly switched to Hothead, his words angered as he gritted out an explanation for why that wouldn't work.

“You’re asking me to slink away in the night like some coward?! Where would I even go!?" He said, throwing up his arms in exasperation. "Megatron will never allow me to just slip away. For him I’m not just a soldier, I'm a symbol. A testament for what the Decepticons and Decepticon science can create. A weapon that he had created personally, and is strong enough to take on the like of an Omega Sentinel! Seeing me escape from his grasp would be an unspeakable humiliation! If I ever attempted to leave he'd chase me down to the end of my days!”

Bumblebee watched Blitzwing’s expression as he angrily gestured. He did look upset, but his initial burst of anger couldn't completely mask the anxiety that seemed to bubble just beneath the surface. As if even just imagining Megatron's response to his departure made him feel terribly uneasy.

Bumblebee went quiet for a moment as he thought it over. Blitzwing did unfortunately have a point, where would he go? He could probably stay here in the warehouse for a while, but it wasn't exactly made to be lived in, and how would he even go about getting fuel? Also, it definitely wouldn't be able to effectively hide Blitzwing from both Megatron and any Decepticons' searching for him for very long. If Lugnut and Megatron manage to corner Blitzwing here it would be two on one, and sure, Bumblebee was reckless at the best of times but even he wasn’t that stupid. Even if Blitzwing was a good fighter so where the odds of winning such a mismatched fight not in his favor, and how could Bumblebee ask him to risk it for such unfavorable odds? He needed to come up with something better.

He thought about it for a moment longer before speaking up in a hesitant voice.

“You could always join me and my team.” The words burned the air between them, plunging the warehouse into another awkward silence. Blitzwing just stared at him in shock.

“Wh-What?” Blitzwing stuttered.

“If you joined the Autobots' we could protect you, and you wouldn't have to worry about finding a place to hide; because you'd be able stay in our base!” Bumblebee explained, his words gaining confidence as he made his case for defection. It seemed to take Blitzwing a minute to fully comprehend what Bumblebee was offering, but as soon as he did, his expression darkened considerably.

"Are you out of your processor?!" He yelled, “As soon as I step a ped inside your base your teammates would send me straight to the stockade!” He grimaced at the idea. “And I refuse to become a prisoner of war, or end up on some Autobots lab table… Never again...” Blitzwings voice trailed off meekly at the end of his sentence and Bumblebee would've had to have been blind to miss the rather obvious shudder that wracked his frame. Recognizing the direction this was headed, Bumblebee quickly attempted to explain himself.

“I never would've suggested it if I thought they'd imprison you!" He said, "You know me better than that, right? I'd never ask you to do anything that I knew would hurt you,” Blitzwing remained quiet from his slightly curled position, but eventually he gave a small nod. Bumblebee continued, “I can talk to my teammates about letting you join us, if I just tell them what's going on I know they'll take you in. Nothing bad will happen to you I’ll make sure of that and you won’t be imprisoned or have anything like uh..." Bumblebee paused as he tried to think of a way to gently refer to the trauma of his triple changer upgrade. "Well, like _'that'_ will happen to you.”

Blitzwing just looked at Bumblebee for a moment before letting out a deep sigh and switching to icy.

“Why would they bother to align themselves with me? To them I’m just an unstable Decepticon. Remember what you thought of me when we met at the beginning of the show, you wanted nothing to do with me and were terrified of me” 

“I wasn’t scared,” Bumblebee mumbeld angrily but Blitzwing seemed to ignore his comment.Blitzwing paused for a moment before continuing in a softer voice, 

“Bumblebee, I trust you a lot but I can’t trust them not to do anything to me, and you can’t promise that they won’t try to hurt me in some way.” Bumblebee was about to speak up but Blitzwing almost like he had already predicted what he was going to say continued “I know you trust your friends, but I don’t and I wouldn't expect them to trust me either.”

Bumblebee sighed, as much as he didn't want to accept it, Blitzwing was right. It would be unrealistic to expect what he was suggesting to go over well with his fellow Autobots, and if anything, it might just end up making the situation worse for all parties' involved. 

It was a pipe dream that Bumblebee was suggesting, and on some level even he knew it was pretty unrealistic; because as much as he wished it was as simple as he'd tried to make it seem, he had to be honest with himself. Even after all his attempts at convincing Blitzwing that his plan would work, Bumblebee still had his own doubts as to how well his team would react to such an admission. But he couldn’t allow Blitzwing to see just how much he was starting to doubt his own suggestion; so instead, he attempted to mask any lingering uncertainty with a burst of confidence he didn't really feel. 

He wasn’t actually sure how far he could stretch his team's acceptance of his life choices, and admitting his relationship with Blitzwing would be rather like opening Pandora's box. He would also rather not have the more than likely quarrel that would be brought on by revealing his and Blitzwings relationship, already knowing it would probably be quite taxing on both him and his team.

But there was still hope! 'Love finds a way' and all that jazz. That was how it always worked in movies! Surely, he could convince his team to give Blitzwing a chance if he just put his mind to it, even if it would be a bit challenging. They might be his teammates but they were also his friends, if he just explained it to them then maybe… probably... hopefully… But, even as he kept trying to tell himself that it could work, the familiar creeping feelings of doubt and anxiety kept filling up his helm with worst case scenarios and what would happen if he actually failed to convince them.

Bumblebee was suddenly pulled from his less than positive thoughts when Blitzwing continued from where he'd left off.

“Besides, even  _ if  _ I wanted to become an Autobot, I sincerely doubt your teammates would ever accept me.” Bumblebee looked up at him and lifted an optic ridge.

“ _ If _ ? What do you mean by  _ if _ ?” Blitzwing rolled his optics.

“It means that I have _no_ interest in leaving the Decepticons or joining your faction” Bumblebee stared at him, his optics wide. 

“What?!” He shouted, throwing up his arms in frustration. “I can totally convince my team to let you join if you just come with me!” He was pretty sure Blitzwing was about to tell him how much he doubted that statement, but he bypassed it entirely. 

“It’s not about _your_ team, it’s about _my_ faction and _my_ loyalty. I've been fighting for the Decepticon cause for a long time.” Blitzwing went quiet for a moment, a look of old pain crossing his face. ”My trine went _offline_ fighting for it. They sacrificed their very _sparks_ so the Decepticon cause could continue. I _can't_ just _forget_ that”. He said, narrowing his optics. "If I switched sides it would be like spitting on their graves." His voice left no room for argument as he continued, "And in either case, I still believe in a Decepticon controlled Cybertron, I am still willing to fight by Megatron's side.” Bumblebee grit his dente, _‘Primus he can be so fraggin' stubborn!’_

“But he treats you awfully!” Bumblebee yelled.

“That’s my own fault.” He responded dismissively, “If I were better at following his orders I wouldn’t get punished. I still believe in his leadership.” he said in a matter of fact way. 

Bumblebee dragged his servos down his face and let out a noise of frustration. ‘ _ Now we're right back to square one! Why can’t he just see that Megatron is a grade A glitch head!’  _ He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the familiar sound of Blitzwing's faceplate switching, a quiet snicker escaping his now red intake.

“And am I really the first mech you think about when you think of Autobot material?!” He asked, his words accompanied by a loud cackle. Bumblebee pouted stubbornly and crossed his arms, unwilling to admit Blitzwing might have a point. When most bots' thought of potential Decepticon deserters, the "crazy" triple changer that held the title of one of Megatron's top lieutenants was pretty far down the list.

“You could still fit the bill!” Bumblebee argued, “You’re already nice to me and when we're together you don't destroy stuff. So, you'd just have to continue doing that, but like a lot more. I mean Ratchet's already set the bar pretty low as far as niceness, so that part really wouldn't be that big of a change for you.” Blitzwing let out an amused giggle.

“Tell you what, if the Autobots ever have a 30 day free trial I’ll be sure to sign up!" His comment earned a small smirk from Bumblebee. The room turned quiet for a moment before suddenly Blitzwings faceplate switched back to icy and started talking again.

“I’m sorry I ruined the mood,” He started “Especially after you did this all for me” Blitzwing said and gestured towards the dance floor and the cd player. Bumblebee looked at him with a tired smile and shook his helm.

“You didn’t ruin anything,” He said softly. “I just...hate seeing you hurt, and you leaving the cons was just an idea worth thinking about” Blitzwing gave a nod in understanding. 

Their conversation ended up dying down after that, the both of them seemingly coming to the conclusion that the current topic of conversation wasn't worth continuing to argue over. Still, with Bumblebee around things couldn't stay quiet for long, and after feeling as if the lull in conversation had lasted too long, he spoke up.

“Can you put me back on the ground now?” He asked, He'd almost forgotten he was still standing on the leaning tower of pallets. It had been kind of nice to be optic level with Blitzwing while it lasted, but right now he just wanted to be back on solid ground.

Blitzwing nodded, as he grabbed the minibot around the waist and began slowly lowering him down to the floor. 

It was just about then that the second slow ballad of the night came on over the radio. Blitzwing froze for a moment as he seemed to realize something and his faceplate switched back to Random, and his smile widened deviously. He dropped his original plan of letting Bumblebee down and instead held the minibot tightly to his chest. He then dramatically began to waltz across the dance floor as Bumblebees peds dangled helplessly in the air.

“I fixed the moving around problem!” Blitzwing declared brightly. Bumblebee just scowled at him, he felt like a doll being swung around by a five year old. Still, despite how humiliating the whole thing was, and putting aside the fact that no matter what Blitzwing seemed to think, he was really only dancing with himself. Bumblebee eventually caved, and looped his arms around the bigger mech's neck as he allowed himself to be pulled around in small circles as Blitzwing attempted to reenact his own version of a slow dance.

Pressed so close together, Bumblebee couldn't help but notice how warm Blitzwing's plating felt against his own. He’d honestly kind of forgotten how much heat Blitzwing's frame seemed to generate now that they weren't forced to cuddle every night for warmth. Bumblebee ended up resting his chin on Blitzwing shoulder pauldron as he allowed himself to be lulled by the gentle swaying of Blitzwing's movements. However, the soft moment was interrupted when both of their HUD alarms started blaring. Bumblebee briefly skimmed the notification scrolling across his vision with glare before angrily deleting it. 

He then heard the tell-tell sound of Blitzwing's faceplate switching, and when Bumblebee looked up at him he was met with Icy.

“It seems like our time is up.” He said, disappointment dancing at the edge of his voice as he slowly lowered Bumblebee back to the ground.

Bumblebee nodded solemnly up at the larger mech, before he suddenly remembered something.

“Wait a minute!” He cried, and as soon as his peds hit the ground he took off running towards the CD player. He hit the eject button, abruptly cutting off the music, and pulled out the CD. He then rushed back towards Blitzwing with the CD held out towards him. “I want you to have this!” Blitzwing just stared at offering to him for a moment before carefully, so as to not risk damaging it, he grasped it between two of his digits and held it up to the light so he could see it more clearly. 

He observed the small disk for a moment longer before looking down at Bumblebee.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, as I’m extremely grateful for the gift, but you do realize I have no way of playing it?” Bumblebee gave him a casual shrug.

“That’s fine! I can just take the CD player with me so we can both listen to it! Then you’ll have no choice but to spend time with me!” He said, with a cheeky grin.

Blitzwing looked at him, his lips pulling up into a soft smile.

“I will always want to spend time with you, CD player or not.” He said, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to the top of Bumblebee's helm; startling a small giggle out of the minibot.

“Then just keep it to remind you of me then!” Blitzwing just smiled indulgently and tucked the gift into his subspace. 

He then extended his servo in Bumblebee's direction and was immediately answered by the minibot's own servo intertwining their digits together. They stayed that way as the pair made their way outside.

Once they'd cleared the threshold of the warehouse, Blitzwing bent down so they could share a single goodbye hug, Bumblebee pressing his faceplate firmly into Blitzwing's neck cables.

“Please be careful, and stay safe.” He said, the words slightly muffled. He heard Blitzwing let out a sigh.

“With how reckless you usually are, I can’t believe I'm not the one saying that to you." He said, in a perfect deadpan. Bumblebee pulled away long enough to give him a harsh glare.

“Oh shut it Blitzbrain!” Blitzwing's faceplate switched to Random, and he just responded with a cackle as he stood up.

He blew Bumblebee one last kiss goodbye before he quickly transformed and took off into the night sky; his alt mode making a playful loop in the air before jetting away from the warehouse.

Bumblebee just crossed his arms over his chest plate and tried to keep his glare going until Blitzwing was out of sight; though, he had the distinct feeling that the unwilling smile spreading across his lips had sabotaged it for him. He waited until Blitzwing's form had long disappeared before fixing up the storage building, and then heading back home himself.

* * *

Far too soon, Blitzwing arrived back at the Decepticons' temporary hideout. He transformed outside before quietly making his way into the mines and towards his quarters. 

In order to get to his room, Blitzwing had to walk past the main cavern that had been hollowed out into a common area, but just as he made to walk past the entrance he stopped and doubled back. No one seemed to be around currently, and that left the main computer completely unguarded. Blitzwing hesitantly eyed the empty space as his optics went back to monitor.

He made a few cursory glances at the surrounding tunnels, and listened closely for any hint that he might not be alone.

After a few tense moments of not seeing or hearing anything, he left the entrance he'd been standing against and made his way towards the larger, dark monitor. On the way, his optics were drawn to the small organic in the cage, and he used his mono-lense to zoom into the tiny inclosure to get a better look. The human seemed to have fallen asleep sitting in his chair. He was leaning over his workstation, using his arms as a makeshift pillow, and his eyes were closed. From what Blitzwing could tell, the man was in deep sleep.

Feeling confident that he wasn’t going to be caught by any other Cybertronian inside the mine, he walked up to the monitor and started scrolling through the Decepticons' contact list. It took a few moments of searching, but finally he found the name he was looking for and made the call. 

Almost as soon as he'd hit the call option, it was answered, and he was soon faced with Swindle's familiar grin on the video feed. As soon as the arms dealer registered who he was looking at, he put on his most charming smile and spoke up with a casual air.

“Blitzwing! So great to see you! How’s life treating my favorite three faced customer?” His attempts at small talk had Blitzwing rolling his optics. Everyone knew you couldn't trust Swindle not to try running a scam on you. The mech was  _ notorious _ for only really caring about the amount of shanix you currently had on hand and not about the customer themselves.

"Spare me you flattery" Blitzwing responded bluntly, not wanting to waste any more time than necessary talking to the scammer when he was running the risk of being noticed by anyone that happened to walk by. "I need something."

Swindle let out a small chuckle.

“Cutting straight to the point I see, I like that! Very well then, what do you have in mind?”

“Would it be possible to acquire something that isn’t a weapon?” Swindle honestly looked taken aback by such a request, but he covered it up well with his usual businessman facade.

“Anything’s possible! That is, if you have enough shanix.” he said, rubbing his digits together with a conniving grin. Apparently, the promise of striking a good deal was more than enough to make him forget the initial strangeness of Blitzwing's question. Blitzwing nodded his assent.

“Well then, let's bargain.”


	4. Squishing a bug

Blitzwing stood silently behind a grove of tall spruce trees. Their long, thick branches provided ample coverage for his large frame and allowed him to remain relatively undetectable from the road. It was a somewhat unnecessary precaution, considering he hadn’t seen a single car pass by, during the whole time he had been waiting.

It'd been almost a full week since he'd last been in contact with Swindle, but he'd finally gotten a return call to his personal comm link this morning informing him that the arms dealer had his item and had sent him a location to meet up. Blitzwing had thankfully already been scheduled for patrol that day so it had been a rather easy thing to simply sneak away for a couple of minutes and arrive at the meeting point. Now, he just had to wait for the arms dealer to show up himself.

Eventually, the road was illuminated by a passing vehicle, and Blitzwing watched as a pair of strong lights preceded a familiar gold and purple SUV. It took a sharp turn toward his location before stopping right in the middle of the road.

Blitzwing gave the surrounding area a quick once over to look for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. Making deals or buying goods from Swindle wasn't wrong in and of itself. They were both branded Decepticons and buying from the arms dealer wasn’t _that_ weird, but if anyone caught him, it would raise some serious questions he'd rather not have to answer. He was also worried that even these small acts of deviation from his normal routine could stack up and attract suspicion. 

Only after double and triple checking to make sure the coast was clear did he exit his hiding spot. He then walked out of the forest and made his way toward the arms dealer. As soon as he'd emerged from the tree line, Swindle initiated his transformation sequence and greeted him with his most charming smile.

“Ah there you are!” He said with his usual flair, “I was starting to get a bit worried you'd stood me up!” Blitzwing narrowed his optics, he couldn’t afford to waste time exchanging pleasantries, so with a scowl he cut straight to the point.

“Did you bring the item I requested?” His curt response to Swindle's attempts at small talk had the other bot looking almost offended.

“I wouldn’t waste your time coming out here if I didn’t.” He said as he began rifling through his seemingly endless subspace. He had to spend a moment shifting items around, but eventually he pulled out a small box with a victorious grin. “Do you know how hard it was to get my servos on this stuff? He asked, "It's sold exclusively on Cybertron, and they don’t exactly sell these kinds of things on the black market.” He added with a self-assured chuckle. “Of course, I'd do anything for such a loyal customer such as yourself.” Blitzwing rolled his optics.

“If you're fishing for extra tips for the added “hardship” you can forget it” Blitzwing said firmly, "We already agreed on a price, and I am not paying a single shanix more.” Swindle just gave him a grin.

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” Blitzwing resolutely chose to ignore both the sarcasm and disappointment in his voice. Having been thwarted in his attempt to gain a bigger profit for his services, Swindle handed over the box so it could be inspected. Blitzwing opened it and peered inside, carefully examining the goods to make sure they were of good quality and were still in good condition. As Blitzwing continued his inspection Swindle couldn't help putting in his two cents. 

“You actually managed to surprise me with your order Blitzwing, I honestly didn’t take you for that kind of mech. You always struck me as more of the sour kind.” Blitzwings shot him a glare before his faceplate switched to Hothead.

“I pay you for your goods,  _ not _ your assumptions.” He growled out. He didn’t need Swindle wasting anymore time focusing on the topic; especially, when what he was buying wasn't actually intended for himself. Swindle let out a somewhat awkward laugh that bordered on nervous and held up his servos placatingly.

“Of course, of course forgive my unprofessionalism…" He said, "Sooo, is everything to your liking?” Blitzwing gave him one last heated glare before he glanced back down at the boxes' contents and snapped the lid shut. His faceplate switched back to Icy.

“Yes, it’s acceptable.” He said before quickly transferring the required shanix to the arms dealer. Swindle's smile widened as he took in his new account balance, but before the sales bot could truly appreciate his newly acquired wealth, Blitzwing's faceplate cycled back to Hothead, and took a menacing step forward. He then emphatically poked Swindle hard in the chest, forcing the arms dealer to lean away from the force. “This meeting  _ stays _ between us, if you tell anyone about this I’ll make sure it's the last words that ever leaves your intake.” Swindle staggered as he was forced to step back, and held up his servos.

“Of course!" He said quickly, "I do pride myself with having buyer seller confidentiality!" He added as he attempted to put on a calm facade. Unfortunately for him, Blitzwing could see right through it. It wasn't hard to pick up on the tale-tale signs that the other con was nervous and it was more than likely he was recalling all the gruesome stories that had been spread about how crazy and downright violent Megatron's triple changer could be. "Well, it was nice catching up with you Blitzwing, but I've really got to go!” Swindle said, before quickly transforming and peeling out in his haste to get away.

Blitzwing watched his hurried escape up until the SUV made a sharp turn and disappeared from sight. He personally didn’t trust Swindle, but he  _ did _ trust that Swindle would have his own self preservation as a top priority. His own continued function was the only thing that con valued more than money, and if he wanted to keep his spark alit, he'd do as Blitzwing asked and keep his mouth shut.

Blitzwing shoved the box into his sub space, and was about to leave, when his commlink sparked to life; causing Blitzwing to freeze where he stood.

“Blitzwing!” It was Lugnut. Immediately, Blitzwing allowed himself to relax his tense posture as his faceplate switched to Random.

“This number can’t be reached at the moment! Please call again, or leave a message after the beep!” He said, letting out a cackle. He could hear a low, irritated growl imitating from the other end of the line.

“We don’t have time for this Blitzwing!” Lugnut shouted, “Our glorious leader has ordered us to go on a supply run! You are to report back to base immediately for randevu! Megatron commands it!” Blitzwing just chuckled.

“Oki doki! See ya soon!” And with that he hung up.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bumblebee had been assigned clean up duty again, and was dutifully welding a stop sign back together. He bit back yawn and rubbed tiredly at his optics. They’d been chasing after nanosec a little over an hour ago, and to no one's surprise, Bulkhead had somehow managed to upend the entire street. So, as soon as the villain had been taken into custody, Optimus had volunteered them for the task of putting the city back together. 

It was fairly early to already be repairing the city, so early in fact that Sari had still been asleep when they'd all left. So, for the moment it was only the Cybertronians members of team prime that were there.

Bumblebee eventually finished welding the two pieces of the stop sign together, and once the hot metal had cooled, he pushed on to make sure it wasn't about to fall apart again.

The entire week had been pretty slow, which had given him ample time to think over his and Blitzwing's conversation last week. He'd been trying to come up with some sort of plan to make Blitzwing's situation better, but he still had nothing. Bumblebee honestly wasn’t that surprised though, he'd never really been the 'idea guy', that was Optimus' job. No, his self appointed job was to be the fun bot.

Bumblebee frowned. Not only was there the problem of what he would do if he got Blitzwing out of Megatron's clutches, but there was also the fact that Blitzwing didn't actually  _ want _ to leave.

Sure, Bumblebee could understand having loyalties, he himself was loyal to both the Autobots and his teammates, but what Bumblebee couldn't understand was Blitzwing's seemingly absolute belief in the Decepticon cause. What would it take for Blitzwing to finally say he'd had enough and leave? Actually, now that he thought about it, Bumblebee realised he couldn't think of a single instance where a Decepticon had left their faction. He remembered stories of Autobots who'd defected to the cons, see example: one Blackarachnia, but he'd never actually heard of a Decepticon that'd made a break for the Autobots. 

He tried to wrack his processor for even a single name of a con who'd deserted, but he came up with nothing. Maybe Starscream counted? But then again he hadn’t actually turned Autobot, and besides, it had taken Megaton literally trying to kill him to make him leave and Bumblebee really didn't want that fate to befall Blitzwing. Especially, since he didn't have the benefit of an immortality granting allspark fragment stuck in his forehead.

He thought on that topic for a few minutes longer before, without really thinking it through, he turned around and tried to get Optimus' attention.

“Hey Optimus!” Bumblebee called out. Optimus paused from where he'd been sweeping up small rocks and pieces of concrete that had littered the sidewalk, and turned towards him with a slight look of annoyance.

“Bumblebee if you're about to ask for another break-” 

“It’s not about that,” Bumblebee said, cutting him off, and causing Optimus' irritated expression to evaporate.

“Oh, well then what is it?” Bumblebee went quiet for a moment as he questioned if he should continue. If he asked this, he'd be getting uncomfortably close to some dangerous territory. Bumblebee took a deep breath through his vents and steeled his nerves as he decided to push forward. 

“Has there ever been a Decepticon that turned Autobot?” He asked hesitantly. He really hoped Optimus didn't get suspicious about  _ why _ he was asking that. It was a fairly neutral question, and it wasn't not like prime would automatically know that Bumblebee was dating a con by such a question,  _ surely _ . 

Optimus seemed surprised to be asked such a thing, as it most definitely wasn't what he'd been expecting. 

“Yes, I know there's been…” He paused for a moment, “I honestly can’t think of any names off the top of my helm, but there have been a few.” Optimus then turned towards their resident medic. “Ratchet, do you know of any Cons that switched sides to the Autobots?” Bumblebee cringed. He really hadn't wanted to involve anyone else in this conversation, but he kept his mouth shut and waited for Ratchet's response. 

Ratchet turned towards them with an equal look of both disgust and anger on his faceplate, and Bumblebee could feel his spark sinking. His hopeful expectation that his team might be accepting of his life choices had never felt more distant than when he was faced with Ratchet's anger over the mere topic of cons switching sides.

“No, why would I remember such a thing?" He said with a sneer, "Cons can never change. The only reason they switch sides is so they can gain your trust and then stab you in the back. That’s how it always ends.” He finished with a low growl. Optimus gave him small a nod of acknowledgement.

“But weren't there at least a few that turned Autobot and stayed that way?” Bumblebee asked, Ratchet just let out a scoff.

“If there are, they're just playing the long game. Cons' will just wait until it's convenient for them to change back. For them there's no real loyalty.” Bumblebee couldn't help but feel the hot burn of anger swirling inside his chest at the causal way Ratchet talked about cons. He acted as if every single one of them was exactly the same sort of evil and were incapable of making a lasting change. 

“Has it crossed your mind that maybe they really did change for the better?” Bumblebee said, trying his best to keep his mounting anger out of his voice so he didn't cause his teammates to get worried or suspicious.

Ratchet shot him a look that clearly said he thought he was an idiot for asking that.

“I have much more experience with these kinds of things, kid." He said, "I've seen a lot of things during the war, and let me tell you, all cons are the same; just a bunch of sadistic narcissists.'' He sounded absolutely convinced in what he was saying, as if he had spoken with every single member of the Decepticon faction and they all had given him the same answer.

Bumblebee gritted his dente.

“They're not all like that,” He mumbled angrily and kicked the stop sign he'd been standing next to. Which only led to making his ped hurt.

“What was that?” Optimus asked, having been the only one close enough to hear that he'd said something. Bumblebee felt his spark skip a beat as he suddenly feared that he might've just unintentionally exposed himself. With a worried gulp he quickly put on his most innocent smile and waved off his leader's concerns.

“Ah, I was just talking to myself." He hastily replied, "It was nothing." He then went about picking up some of the bigger pieces of rubble off the sidewalk in an attempt to dissuade Optimus from asking further questions. Unfortunately, his distraction failed to work as intended because Optimus seemed less than inclined to let the matter drop.

“May I ask why you're interested in Decepticons that might have turned Autobot?” Bumblebee felt his spark pulse quicken a bit, as he realized his half thought out question had Optimus poking dangerously close to Bumblebee's biggest secret.

“Ah, well uh... You see that-well, it's a funny story actually and it’s- I'm just-” ‘ _ Think of something you idiot!’  _ He thought frantically as he tried to come up with something. His mounting panic didn't help matters, as he just kept stumbling over his words as he tried to form a semi coherent coherent sentence. “You know how cons are, they're- I mean, I just kind of-” Optimus just kept looking at him with an expression somewhere between confusion, concern, and the worried look of someone watching a mech suffering a severe technical glitch. 

But his attention was quickly pulled elsewhere when he reached up to answer his comm link. Bumblebee immediately shut his mouth and just watched as Optimus listened to whoever was calling him. Primus, he hoped that whatever was happening right now would be enough to save him from having to explain himself.

Optimus, currently ignorant of Bumblebee's internal pleading to Primus for a miracle, just nodded along to what the person on the other end of the line was saying. Eventually, he ended the call with a simple: “Understood. We'll be right there.” He then turned around and addressed his team.

“Decepticon activity has been spotted at a construction site on the edge of Detroit!” He then yelled his familiar battle cry, ”Autobots roll out!”

They could see the so called “Decepticon activity” from at least a mile away because sure enough, stealing building material in broad daylight, were Lugnut and Blitzwing. They seemed to still be in the process gathering up building supplies when team prime showed up, and they must not have been there too long because their pile of stolen materials was still relatively small.

As they drove closer they could see both cons snap their helms towards them as they became aware they had company.

Team Prime quickly initiated their transformation sequences and stopped a few meters in front of them. Bumblebee couldn’t help shooting them both a cheeky smirk.

“You do know that stealing is against the law, right?” He quipped, he'd directed it at both of them, but he looked at Blitzwing when he'd said it.

Neither con chose to dignify that with an answer and Blitzwing, currently with his Icy faceplate in control, gave no reaction. Not that Bumblebee had really expected him to. 

During work hours there was a strict, 'don't acknowledge our relationship' rule. Meaning that both Bumblebee and Blitzwing would have to put on a good show of still harboured nothing but malice towards each other. Still, that didn't mean they couldn't let a few hints slip through as to what they got up to outside of work.

Seeing as no one else had made a move yet, Lugnut quickly grabbed one of the many steel beams that'd been left lying around and hurled it towards the approaching Autobots. Immediately, Bumblebee and the rest of his team were forced to scatter in order to avoid the projectile.

Blitzwing meanwhile, had lowered his cannons towards the ground and had started covering it in a thick layer of slippery ice, causing any nearby Autobots to lose their balance and start sliding all over the place. Bumblebee was lucky enough to regain his footing fairly quickly and stopped himself from sliding around like a deer in roller skates. He then looked up at Blitzwing and gave him another smug look.

“For someone with ice powers you really need to learn how to chill!” He watched as Blitzwing's faceplate switched over to Hothead.

“How about I give you something more fitting then!” He shouted and lowered his cannons towards the minibot in a threatening display. Though, just before he opened fire, he made a small tilt of his helm towards the right and allowed Bumblebee time to take evasive action.

Bumblebee immediately threw himself to the right, effectively dodging Blitzwing's fiery assault and giving himself the chance to run for cover. Bumblebee ended up vaulting over a brick fence once he was close enough and pressed his back against it as he ducked his helm down. He could feel the temperature of the surrounding air rising as the sounds of weapons discharging continued; an uncomfortable reminder of just how hot Blitzwing's cannon fire actually was. He waited behind his makeshift barrier a little longer until he was sure the hot blast of fire had come to a stop.

As soon as the sound of Blitzwing's cannons had gone silent he transformed his servos into his signature weapons and peaked over the fence. Seeing that he had a clear shot at the triple changer, he readied his stingers and fired off a few bolts at their lowest setting. It probably wouldn't have made much of a difference if the output had been set higher, but there was no need to risk it.

Blitzwing made no attempt to dodge, and simply allowed the bolts to glance off his thick plating, the electricity failing to leave so much as a scratch behind. Blitzwing made a show of looking down at the parts of his frame where the bolts had made contact, before slowly turned towards Bumblebee with a smug grin.

“You call that an attack?!” He yelled, before his attention was suddenly stolen by two cement trucks that happened to be parked nearby. Blitzwing made his way over and rubbed his servos together in preparation before grabbing a truck in each servo and effortlessly hefted them over his shoulders in a perfect deadlift. As he continued to hold them up, he shot a smug smirk in Bumblebee's direction.

Bumblebee could feel his cheeks growing slightly warmer, before his expression quickly morphed into a scowl. He knew exactly what Blitzwing was up to. The only reason he'd done that was so he could impress Bumblebee with his ridiculously, overexaggerated show of strength. And to Bumblebee's great annoyance, he realized it was working.

Blitzwing made another barely noticeable nod towards the right before throwing one of the trucks directly towards him. Bumblebee rolled out of the way just in time, and the truck made a horrible sound from behind him as it collided with the brick fence with an awful crash. Bricks and twisted metal went flying in every direction, and visibility was momentarily lost, as both red brick dust and unmixed cement clouded the air.

Blitzwing was just about to throw the second truck when he caught sight of Optimus attempting to approach out of his periphery.

His smile immediately vanished and was replaced by an angered scowl. He took aim and sent the second truck hurtling towards the Autobot leader. It would have made contact too, if not for Ratchet catching it with his magnets just in time.

As Bumblebee tried to get his ventilations under control he took a moment to catalog the positions of his teammates. Both Ratchet and Optimus were busy dealing with Blitzwing, Bulkhead was currently trading blows with Lugnut… Bumblebee's gaze quickly started darting around the battlefield as he searched for his remaining teammate.  _ 'Where's Prowl?’ _

He finally spotted him hiding behind a stack of large cement pipes. He had a shuriken in each servo and seemed to be aiming at Blitzwing’s unguarded back.

Bumblebee quickly made his way over to where the cyber ninja was hiding, but just before he could get to him he purposely let out an exaggerated: “Whoops!”

He pretended to lose his footing on the slick sheets of ice under his peds and slid forward at such high velocity, that when he inevitably crashed into Prowl, he sent the both of them flying. They ended up in a haphazard pile of limbs, and Bumblebee counted himself lucky that his barely thought out plan had actually  _ worked _ . 

Bumblebee couldn’t believe how well that had gone, and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for getting one over on mister 'I'm a mystical ninja'.

“Sorry Prowl” He said, with an awkward chuckle. Prowl just let out a sigh and roughly shoved Bumblebee off of his chest. He then executed a flawless kip up to get back to his peds.

“Just be more careful.” He responded briskly, before dashing off. More than likely moving to a new position that was far away from the minibot. Bumblebee watched him go for a moment longer, but he quickly realized he should've been paying more attention to his own surroundings as a massive weight suddenly slammed into his side.

He was sent flying. He hit hard once he landed and his frame even skipped a couple of times before eventually coming to a stop on his front. He let out a pained groan and took a moment before trying to push himself up. However, as soon as he attempted to get his servos underneath him, he felt a heavy weight slamming into his back. It forced him down, threatening to crush him if he didn't stay put.

He risked a quick glance over his shoulder, and to his horror, he saw Lugnut's giant frame blotting out the sun. He had Bumblebee pinned under one of his massive peds.

Bumblebee immediately started trying to crawl and or wriggle his way out, but he gave up fairly quickly once he realized he had no chance of pushing the big lug off of him. He might as well have been trapped under a mountain. It was then that he saw Lugnut raising his servo with the clear intention of pulverizing him.

Bumblebee felt his optics widen and he swore he felt his spark stop as all sound faded from his surroundings.

With dawning horror he realized it was going to be a direct hit. He was completely trapped and there would be no fleeing from this. He couldn’t even get his servos up to defend himself. Bumblebee felt his frame go cold with terror and he shut his optics tightly as he waited for the inevitable searing pain that would follow the explosion.

It never came. Instead, he could hear what sounded like a scuffle breaking out. After that, it was quiet for a few more seconds before Lugnut's booming voice rang out.

“What in the pit are you doing?!” Bumblebee hesitantly peeked out with one optic and saw that Blitzwing had grabbed Lugnuts arm; stopping it just before it would've come in contact with Bumblebees frame. Bumblebee just looked between the two giant cons as his spark continued to beat like crazy. 

Blitzwing's expression was a terrifying mixture of cold, barely restrained anger, but he wasn't looking at Bumblebee. No, his contempt seemed entirely focused on Lugnut.

“We can put  _ this  _ to better use.” Blitzwing said, as if Bumblebee were merely an object. 

He then grabbed at Bumblebee from where he could be seen peeking out from underneath Lugnut. As soon he had a good grip, Lugnut lifted his ped and Blitzwing pulled him out with a quick jerk. As relieved as Bumblebee was to have the awful pressure off of his frame, it was a short lived victory, as he was then immediately pinned against Blitzwings chest. His arms were restrained firmly at his sides and he realized it would be impossible to attack using his stingers.

Blitzwing then quickly turned to address the rest of the Autobots that had come running once they'd realized Bumblebee had been targeted by both cons.

Blitzwing lowered his cannons threateningly, one of the barrels pointed directly at the back of Bumblebee's helm, and held up his free servo as he motioned for the rest of Bumblebee's team to stop moving.

“If you don’t want your little minibot to get one helm shorter, I would suggest you not come any closer.” His voice was cold and terrifying as he spoke his very believable threat.

The rest of the Autobots immediately stopped dead in their tracks, but they still held their attack formations. The atmosphere turned deathly quiet, and once Blitzwing seemed satisfied with their cooperation, he spoke up again.

“We’re going to take the supplies we've gathered and you will not do a thing to stop us.” Blitzwing continued, “That is, if you don’t want this one's spark to be snuffed.” Bumblebee honestly forgot sometimes just how scary Blitzwing could sound when he wanted to. He couldn’t really hold it against Blitzwing though, he was just doing what he had to, and Bumblebee would have to play his part to make it look good.

“Don’t listen to him Boss bot!” Bumblebee cried, “I can take him!” He then uselessly kicked his peds in the air. Blitzwing squeezed Bumblebee a bit tighter, making him let out a quiet groan. It didn’t exactly hurt, but it certainly made it harder to pull air into his vents.

Optimus took a small step forward and quickly spoke up.

“Bumblebee, please be silent,” He said, before turning to address Blitzwing. “We can negotiate.” He said slowly. Optimus spoke as if he were trying to talk down some complete maniac. Like he believed Blitzwing was some sort of emotional time bomb and if he didn’t say exactly the right words he might lash out. It was honestly starting to piss Bumblebee off. Still, he couldn’t say he really blamed his leader for trying his best to save him. 

Optimus continued, “If we let you take the supplies, do you promise to return our teammate to us unharmed?” Bumblebee could hear the subtle note of anxiety in his voice. Optimus more than likely didn’t have even the tiniest amount of trust that Blitzwing would keep his end of the bargain, but he must have also realised that he didn't have much of a choice. He couldn’t just do nothing as in his mind Bumblebee would probably be killed if didn’t meet Blitzwing's demands, but if there was even a slight chance that his cooperation would spare his teammate, he would take it.

Blitzwing just gave the Autobot leader another chilling look.

“That all depends on you, autobot scum.” Blitzwing said coldly, he then turned towards Lugnut, his faceplate spinning to Random. “Did you hear that? It’s a free buffet! Take anything you want, the Autobots are footing the bill!” He said with an amused cackle. Lugnut immediately started gathering up their stolen supplies as Blitzwing kept an optic on the Autobots to make sure they didn't try anything funny. At some point he turned his attention back to the minibot he held captive in his arms. 

“Am I squishing you itsy-bitsy bug?” He asked sardonically, his high pitched voice filled with malice. Bumblebee looked up at him with a glare, but he soon realized that Blitzwing's optics didn’t quite match his tone.

His optics held a gentle questioning in their depths and it was then it clicked for Bumblebee.

Blitzwing was genuinely  _ asking _ if he was holding him too tight, but he'd disguised as normal autobot vs con mockery. Bumblebee gave him a smug grin.

“This? I can’t feel a thing! I thought you were supposed to be tough, but I bet you couldn't even squeeze the juice out of a lemon!” Bumblebee was pretty sure Blitzwing didn’t have the slightest idea what a 'lemon' was, but it was still pretty clear that Bumblebee was mocking him. Blitzwing's faceplate switched with a violent spin, hothead emerging with his dente bared.

“You wanna see strength!? I’ll show you strength! I’ll crush you into sheet metal!” He yelled, making Bumblebee grimace. He'd shouted right into Bumblebee's audio receptors and for a moment he feared he might've actually gone deaf.

“Shut it kid!” Ratchet yelled from his position next to Optimus. Blitzwing shot the medic a quick glance before his faceplate switched back to Random.

“Yeah, listen to your elders!” He shouted gleefully, as he started to noogie Bumblebee's helm. Bumblebee looked up at him with a scowl.

“I am sooo gonna' make you regret this later.” He hissed low enough so that only Blitzwing could hear him. Blitzwing ignored his comment, and just continued his assault as Bumblebee continued to grow angrily at him.

However, they were both interrupted when Lugnut returned and dropped a multitude of supplies next to Blitzwing.

“This is yours to carry, let us return to our great leader!” Blitzwing gave him a small nod, and turned back towards the Autobots with an ever widening grin.

“I think this belongs to you!” He said, shifting so he was now holding Bumblebee with one servo "Catch!" He yelled, as he reeled back and threw Bumblebee towards his team. As he soared through the air he could hear Lugnut shouting angrily.

“Blitzwing, you pit brained malfunction! You should have just offlined him, not given him back!” However, he didn't wait around long enough to hear whatever Blitzwing's response would've been because just as Blitzwing had opened his mouth to defend himself; Lugnut had already grabbed his supplies, transformed, and blasted off into the air.

Bumblebee had just enough time to hear the sound of a second jet engine starting up before he landed safely in Bulkhead's arms.

He looked up just in time to see Lugnut and Blitzwing flying overhead. They were carrying a ridiculously large amount of building material and the added weight seeming to make their flying a little wobbly.

Bumblebee followed them with his optics until they were out of sight. He was suddenly brought back to himself though, when Ratchet started to approach.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked seriously, already running a diagnostic as he looked Bumblebee over. The minibot shook his helm

“Nothing except my pride.” Bumblebee said, with a huff of chagrin.

“I'm just so glad you're okay!” Bulkhead cried, his voice filled with relief. “Blitzwing is super crazy and volatile, you're lucky to even be alive right now!”

Bumblebee knew that statement wasn't even a little bit true. Blitzwing had never intended to hurt him, he probably wouldn't have hurt him even if the rest of the Autobots had fought back, but since he couldn’t reveal that he simply crossed his arms over his chest and mumbled a quiet, “Yeah, I guess I am pretty lucky.” And he definitely was, just not in the way the rest of his team probably imagined.

* * *

Blitzwing and Lugnut landed just on the outskirts of their base and began the short trek towards the entrance with the building supplies carried over their shoulders.

“You should've just shot his helm off! It would've only taken a klik.” Lugnut groused. They'd been arguing back and forth about the same topic the entire way back and Blitzwing starting to get seriously fed up.

“If you wanted to offline the bot so bad, why didn’t you just stay and do it yourself?” Blitzwing growled, Lugnut looked at him like he was an idiot.

“We need to return with these resources as soon as possible! Our leader-” Blitzwing's faceplate switched to Hothead.

“Then that's your answer!” He shouted, angrily cutting him off. He honestly couldn't care less what the big malfunction thought of his actions. 

“You still could've-” 

“What are you arguing about now?” asked an angry voice. Both turned to acknowledge the voices owner and were immediately met with the terrifying silhouette of the Decepticon leader. He'd probably been drawn by their increasingly loud argument, and he did not look pleased. A deep frustration bled into every syllable he uttered as he stared them both down with a dangerous look. Lugnut was the first to attempt an explanation.

“Blitzwing had an Autobot held hostage, and instead of killing him he simply let him go!” Megatron turned his attention to Blitzwing as he silently urged him to explain himself. Blitzwing could feel the familiar rush of anxiety creeping up inside him as he was suddenly made the sole beneficiary of his leader's cold optics. He knew that if he didn't want to look suspicious he'd have to come up with a convincing lie fast. 

“I was only thinking about getting back with supplies, so I just grabbed them instead of offlining the Autobot” He said, defending himself. “The space bridge is our top priority, the Autobots are insignificant in comparison, so who cares if the little Autobot lives or dies? It's not like it would've changed much.” Blitzwing said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

After that, they just stood there in silence as they awaited their leader's verdict. Megatron continued to scrutinize the two of them closely. 

“Blitzwing is right.” Blitzwing's optics widened in surprise.  _ ‘I am?’  _ He thought, shocked that Megatron had actually agreed with him. He quickly regained his composer and glanced towards Lugnut. He also had a look of surprise on his faceplate, but it soon turned to rage when he registered the smug look Blitzwing was shooting his way. Nothing angered Lugnut more than someone else getting praised by their leader, and Blitzwing planned to savor it. Megatron started to elaborate

“Right now the Autobots are nothing more than a distraction.” He stated, “They’ll all meet their end sooner or later. The construction of the space bridge is where we need to keep our collective focus.'' Lugnut made a deep bow.

“Of course my lord! Your planning is flawless and shall lead us to victory! Your intellect is truly a marvel! All hail your lordship!” Megatron watched Lugnuts dramatic declarations with the disinterest of a bot that had seen it thousands of times.

“Just… Take the materials to the space bridge,” He said, sounding like he was trying to hold back his increasing annoyance.

“Of course my lord!” Lugnut shouted enthusiastically, as he started running towards the space bridge with the supplies tucked under his arms. Blitzwing watched him go and was just about to head inside himself when he was suddenly stopped by a firm servo on his shoulder. His spark pulse sky rocketed and he risked a glance over his shoulder only to be met with Megatron's smoldering optics.

“Wait, just a moment Blitzwing.” He said, causing Blitzwing's already anxious mind to escalate into full-blown panic mode as he desperately tried to figure out what he'd done wrong. Had Megatron found out about himself and Bumblebee? Was he about to be punished for the actions he'd taken today? Or was it something else entirely? Blitzwing swallowed nervously and answered in his usual monotone so as to hide his current emotional state.

“Yes my lord?” 

“I'm pleased with the level of restraint you showed today.” Blitzwing was slightly taken aback. Was... was Megaton actually  _ praising _ him? This was not at all what he had expected. Megatron paid his stunned subordinate little mind and continued, “It’s not like you to stay passive in the heat of battle and actually think things through, so I'm very pleased that you were able to stay focused long enough to accomplish our primary goal." The Decepticon leader then gave him an odd look, "It was very… unusual of you." Thankfully, before Blitzwing had time to properly descend into a panic Megatron abruptly turned away and issued the command to 'keep it up'. He then walked right past Blitzwing, and disappeared into the deep tunnels of the cave system without looking back.

Blitzwing just stood there for a moment longer in stunned silence as he tried to comprehend what had happened. Eventually though, the shock started to wear off and he started thinking.

_ 'I've got to be more careful!'  _ He berated himself,  _ 'If I make too many mistakes like this then Megatron might start seeing a pattern and then he'll know for sure something is wrong’.  _ Blitzwing swallowed hard, _ 'Or worst case scenario, he could find out about me and Bumblebee...’  _ The thought of what Megatron would do to them if he ever discovered their relationship was enough to leave a bad taste in his mouth and an uneasy feeling in his tank.

He steadfastly chose to ignore his growing unease as he readjusted his grip on the building material and reluctantly followed the two mechs deeper inside the mine.


	5. A Sweet tooth and the good old switcheroo

When Bumblebee arrived at his and Blitzwing's secret hideout he was honestly a little surprised to see that Blitzwing had gotten there first. The lights had already been turned on and he could see Blitzwing sitting inside the building, seemingly waiting for him.

Blitzwing looked up as Bumblebee approached and met the minibot's optics with a jagged grin.

“Hello little bug, did you come for another noogie?” Bumblebee just scowled at him as he was reminded of yesterday's embarrassing display. 

“No, I came to repay the favour.” He growled back, though he did give the triple changer a wink that Blitzwing playfully returned.

Bumblebee then continued his journey to the back of the warehouse and crawled up into the triple changers lap. However, as soon as he'd settled in comfortably he crossed his arms over his chest plates and glared up at Blitzwing; a clear indication that he had yet to be forgiven.

Blitzwing looked down at his display and gave him an exaggerated pout.

“Aww, are you still mad at me?” He asked, planting a kiss on top of the minibot's helm. Bumblebee just continued to scowl at him, though it was starting to become difficult to keep up his facade of anger when a smile kept threatening to spread across his lips. Blitzwing noticed this and his optics narrowed with mirth. 

“How about I make it up to you?” he said playfully, “I even brought you a surprise!” Now,  _ that _ caught Bumblebees attention. The scowl he'd been trying so hard to keep on his face broke as it was replaced with a look of excited curiosity.

“Surprise?" He asked, his anger momentarily forgotten. "What surprise?” Blitzwing just let out a soft chuckle at the new expression of curiosity on the minibot.

“First, you have to close your optics and open your mouth.” Blitzwing said with a grin.

Bumblebee stared at the grinning faceplate in front of him for a moment longer before his optics narrowed in suspicion.

“No way.” He said stubbornly. 

“Aww, come on!” Blitzwing said, his pout having returned. “Pretty please?"

“Yeah, there's no way I'm doing that.'' Bumblebee reiterated just as sternly. Blitzwing's faceplate switched to Icy and he rolled his optic in exasperation.

“It’s quite humorous to me that you would trust me with your life, but not when it comes to closing your optics and opening your mouth.” Bumblebee scowled at him.

“You might put dirt in my mouth or something!” He cried, throwing up his arms dramatically. Blitzwing's faceplate made another spin and Hothead emerged with a scowl.

“Would you just do it?!” He yelled, “I promise It’s not a trick!” Bumblebee thought it over for a moment before letting out a soft huff. He then gave the triple changer the most stern look he could manage.

“Okay I'll do it, but if this is a trick I'm never trusting you again.” He hissed before closing his optics and opening his mouth somewhat hesitantly.

He didn't have to wait long before he felt something being placed on his glossa. He closed his mouth around the object and realized it was deliciously sweet. Bumblebee furrowed his brows for a moment as he tried to put a name to the flavor. He definitely recognized the taste, but he couldn’t put his digit on what it was. Then it hit him. His optics shot open as he stared up at Blitzwing in wonder.

“You got me energon goodies!?” He exclaimed. Blitzwing lips pulled into a self satisfied grin at his reaction as he proceeded to reach into his subspace to retrieve the full box. Bumblebee just continued to stare at it with his mouth agape as Blitzwing handed him what might as well have been the holy grail. “Holy scrap! How did you even get these?!” He asked, shoving two more of the goodies into his mouth. Along with the sweetness he could feel them practically melting as they touched his glossa.

“I have connections.” Blitzwings responded. The way he said that made the whole thing seem rather shady, but at the moment Bumblebee honestly couldn't bring himself to care.

“You'll have to introduce me to them.” Bumblebee said, his voice a bit muffled as he continued to stuff his mouth full of goodies. “I’m gonna buy their entire stock”

As he swallowed his last mouthful he realized that Blitzwing had yet to have any himself. So, after popping one last candy into his mouth, he offered up the box.

“Do you want one?” he asked. Blitzwing considered the offered sweets with a thoughtful expression before choosing one of the smaller pieces and placing it in his mouth.

He made an odd expression as he tasted the piece of candy.

“Primus, I'd forgotten how sweet they were.” He said, with a mumbled grimace.

“No, duh!” Bumblebee said, taking another. “That's like, the entire point!”

“I know!” Blitzwing replied with a huff, “I just don’t know how anyone can gulp down more than one at a time!” As if to contradict that statement, Bumblebee took another one.

“They're too sweet for you…? Well, I guess that makes sense.” He said with a mischievous grin. “You’re sweet enough already” It took Blitzwing a second to fully process what he'd said, but as soon as it hit him, a pink flush appeared across Hothead's cheeks. 

Bumblebee's grin became even wider after seeing that, and he couldn't help feeling a strong sense of accomplishment. It was exceptionally harder to fluster Blitzwing then it was for Blitzwing to make Bumblebee flush bright pink, so any time Bumblebee actually managed to fluster the triple changer enough to make him blush, was always marked as a huge success in his book. Blitzwing glared down at him as he continued to casually lounge in the bigger mechs lap, a smug look plastered across his faceplate.

“I’m not  _ sweet. _ ” He growled. Bumblebee just laughed at him.

“Sure you aren’t… Sweet-spark.” He said, letting out a giggle.

“That's it! Get over here!” Blitzwing shouted, grabbing Bumblebee out of his lap and holding him firmly against his cockpit. Bumblebee struggled for a handful of seconds against his grip, but quickly decided it was useless. There was no way he could challenge Blitzwing's strength, and really the only thing Bumblebee managed to accomplish was some pathetic thrashing.

Blitzwing continued to hold him pinned against his chest for a moment longer, before a new idea seemed to form inside his helm. His faceplate suddenly switched to Random, who greeted the minibot with a truly devilish grin. He then pressed his lips against Bumblebee's neck cables and blew a raspberry.

Bumblebee immediately let out a stream of giggles and renewed his efforts to free himself. He pushed at Blitzwing's helm in an attempt to remove the triple changers lips from his neck but unfortunately it did little to deter Blitzwing, and despite pushing as hard as he could, Bumblebee's attempt to shove the bigger mech off might as well have been compared with trying to move a mountain; it was pretty much impossible.

“Nonono! Blitzwing! Stop!” He said, between giggles. “That tickles!” Blitzwing must not have been feeling particularly merciful that day, because he only stopped for a moment to voice his demands 

“I’m not sweet! I’m a dangerous con!” He said, “Say I’m a dangerous con! Say it!"

“Never!” Bumblebee cried, showing that this was a hill he was willing to die on. “You're as sweet as pie!”

“Oh! I’ll make you regret saying that!” Blitzwing shouted back, continuing his attack as Bumblebee howled with laughter.

After a few more seconds of the continued assault, Blitzwing finally took mercy on him and let him go, allowing Bumblebee to fall back onto his lap. Bumblebee gave him a light glare from where he'd landed as he pulled much needed air into his vents.

“I’ll get you back for this one day,” He panted. Blitzwing's faceplate switched back to Icy.

“That is highly doubtful.” Bumblebee's smile turned devilish at that.

“Is that a challenge?” he asked, causing Blitzwing to let out a huff as he rolled his optics.

“You’re an idiot.” He said, although his normal deadpan was colored by fondness. Bumblebee just continued to grin.

“I know that you are, but what am I?” His childish retort had Hothead making a resurgence.

“Do you want me to grab you again?!” His attempts at sounding threatening only caused Bumblebee to burst into laughter. Seeing as his threat wasn't going to be taken seriously, Blitzwing just sat there with his arms crossed over his cockpit and silently fumed as he watched the love of his life laugh himself sick. 

Bumblebee arrived back at base early in the early hours of the morning, and in what had quickly become the norm, crawled in through his room's open window. As soon as he'd put his room in order and stored away anything that might be deemed 'suspicious', he threw himself on top of his berth. He then pulled out his personal datapad and saw that Blitzwing had beaten him to the punch once again.

‘Good night love’ Bumblebee started writing his own message back, but he stopped for a moment as he thought of something. A grin slowly crept up his lips as he deleted and then re-wrote his response.

‘Good night, _ sweetie'  _ He looked at his datapad with a wide smirk. The message back was immediate.

‘YOU ARE INSUFFERABLE’ it took all of Bumblebee's willpower to not burst out laughing. It was a lot harder to tell just what faceplate Blitzwing currently had on via text, but the all caps response was a dead give away that he must have written that message while on Hothead.

'Love ya too <3' He typed out. Blitzwing didn't respond to that one so Bumblebee subspaced his datapad and shuttered his optics as he allowed himself to drift off into recharge. 

Bumblebee woke up some time later feeling like he'd only been out for a few minutes, and to an unfamiliar pressure on his chest. There was also some kind of noise, but he was still too out of it to figure out what it was.

He slowly opened his optics, and was met by Saris face just inches from his own. She was sitting on top of his chest and was staring down at him with a frustrated expression. 

“Huh?” He moaned tiredly. Seemingly happy at finally pulling a response from him, Sari leaned back a bit. 

“I've been trying to wake you up for almost 5 minutes now!” she yelled. Bumblebee just groaned and put an arm over his optics.

“Sari, it’s too early for this. Let me recharge”

“It’s 11 am!” She shouted. “If you lay there any longer, you’ll grow into the berth!” Bumblebee just gave her a tired smile.

“Then leave me here to become one with the berth.” He said as he pulled his arm away just enough so he could peek out at her. Sari shook her head.

“No, I’m not leaving you behind! She said dramatically, "Not as long as I can help it!” She then grabbed onto one of Bumblebee's arms and tried to pull him up.

“Just leave me Sari!” Bumblebee wailed, following her theatrical lead, “I won’t make it! Tell the rest of the team that I’m sorry and that I’ll miss them!” Sari gave him a glare as she let go of his arm, but soon after she seemed to get an idea and her irritated glower loosened up.

“If you die here, I'm going to inherit your video games.” She said with a devilish grin, “And then I’ll delete all your save files!” That threat, real or not, was what finally made Bumblebee sit up.

“I’m up! I’m alive, it’s a miracle!” He said, swinging his legs over the edge of the berth before jumping off. 

He let out another tired yawn and looked down at Sari.

“Okay, I’m awake now, so what’s up?” His question had Sari scowling up at him angrily.

“You promised you'd play video games with me today!" She yelled, "Don't you remember?!” Bumblebee tried to wrack his processor for the memory of ever making such a promise, but even if he couldn’t remember if exactly, it did sound familiar. 

Bumblebee gave her an innocent smile.

“Of course! I wouldn’t forget that easily!” He said, silently praying that Sari didn't call him out for his rather obvious lie. Sari scrutinized him for a moment longer, before seemingly deciding it wasn't worth arguing about and met his optics with a matching smile of her own.

“Well, then what are we waiting for?! Let’s go!”

They ended up on the sofa not long after that. They'd both agreed to play co-op since Sari wasn’t as fond of competitive games at the moment since every time Bumblebee's played against her he always ended up winning by a landslide and he was, shall we say,  _ less than humble  _ about it when he won. So, unless they wanted to risk starting a war in the base's living room, co-op games were the way to go.

They'd been collecting supplies so they could make a base camp when Sari's character was suddenly interrupted by a small stretch of unskippable dialogue. She stopped long enough to read through it, while Bumblebee's character just continued running around. Bumblebee hadn’t really been focusing on what she was doing since he'd never been the type to care about the game's “lore” and stuff. 

Suddenly, Sari turned towards him and pointed at a specific part of the screen.

“What does clandestine mean?” She asked, the word sounding ill-fitting in her mouth as it was clear she wasn't sure she was even pronouncing it right.

Bumblebee gave her a nonchalant shrug without bothering to lift his optics from the screen.

“No idea.” Sari continued looking at the mystery word for a moment longer, before she again tried to get his attention.

“Could you look it up?” Bumblebee, being almost completely immersed in the game at this point, pulled out his data pad without a second thought and handed it over.

“Here.”

Sari took it from him without a word, and after seemingly unlocking it, became weirdly quiet and still. She didn’t move her fingers or make any attempt to look up the word on google. She just sat there, still and quiet.

“Who's ‘Neapolitan Ice cream’?” she finally asked. Bumblebee felt his spark stop. He jerked towards her, his attention no longer focused on the game. And that was when he saw it. Right there in front of Saris eyes was Blitzwing's contact and, _Every._ _Single._ _Message and_ conversation that they'd ever had. Bumblebee hadn’t clicked out of it after he had written his last good night text, so the first thing you saw when opening his data pad was, well, _that_.

Bumblebee felt his whole frame go numb with fear and his thoughts were replaced with static as he just continued to stare at the scene in front of him. Bumblebee eventually shook himself out of his state of shock and held out his servo towards her in a silent motion for her to hand it over. His spark was beating so hard it felt like it was going to explode out of his chest plates at any moment.

“It’s no one! Please give my datapad back.” He said, but to his absolute horror Sari ignored him, and even  _ worse _ , she started scrolling through the messages!

Bumblebee quickly made an attempt to snatch it back, but Sari was just as quick, and easily pulled it out of his reach.

“‘Good night  _ love’  _ ? ‘Goody goody night my  _ sweet  _ honey Bee’?“ Sari read out, her voice occasionally broken by fits of laughter. Bumblebee felt his cheeks start to burn with hot energon and he made another grab for his datapad. He felt the tip of his digits brush against it this time, but Sari was still able to pull it away before he got a hold of it. 

“Give it back!” He shrieked, as panic began to well up inside him. “It’s rude to read other people messages!” Sari completely ignored him and any comments that she was being 'rude'.

"Who is this?!" Sari asked instead, "Why are they calling you their ‘honey Bee’? Why do they call you love?” She said with a wicked glint in her eye “Are you actually dating someone?!” she suddenly exclaimed.

“They’re nobody!” Bumblebee yelled, giving her his best scowl and making another grab for his data pad.

“That’s baloney!" She said, hiding the pad behind her back, and staring into Bumblebees optics. "You wrote back with little hearts and stuff! Who is it!? Do you actually have a girlfriend or something?!” 

Bumblebee reluctantly met her eyes as his servos curled into fists at his sides, and in the continued silence he could feel them starting to shake. Panic and horrible anxiety kept threatening to swallow him whole, as he desperately tried to think of the right words to talk himself out of the situation he suddenly found himself in. ‘ _ This is bad. This is so,so bad’ _

"Look, it doesn't matter! It's just a joke! Now, can you give me the pad back so we can just get back to the game?" He asked, almost on the verge of pleading. Sari shook her head so hard her pigtails flopped against her head.

"No! I'll only give it back once you tell me who this is!" She insisted. Bumblebee cursed this, this whole situation. How could he have been so stupid as to keep the contact up and then just give the pad to her without checking it first!? If Blitzwing ever found out about this he'd never let him live it down! 

"Sari, I'll take you on as many joyrides as you want- Frag! I'll even do all your chores for a month if you let this go!" Sari shook her head again.

"No way Jose! Now, who is this?"

Bumblebee did his very best to think of a way to get himself out of this situation, or at the very least, come up with some kind of distraction that could take the heat off him. Eventually though, he realized there was no getting out of this, and he let his servos relax from their curled state with a sigh of defeat.

There was no escaping it now. If he didn’t tell her what she wanted to know she might inadvertently reveal his relationship status to the rest of the team, and then he'd  _ really _ have a problem. All he could do right now was make an attempt at damage control. Besides, this was  _ Sari _ , one of his  _ best friends;  _ he could totally count on her to not throw him under the bus.

Realizing how hopeless this situation was, he let out a sigh and finally surrendered.

“They’re… They’re my boyfriend.” He admitted. Sari just stared back at him with huge eyes and Bumblebee just wanted to start digging himself a hole to crawl into. It was so  _ weird _ to admit that he had a boyfriend to anyone that wasn't Blitzwing.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?!” She shrieked. Bumblebee quickly shushed her and started frantically motioning to her to keep her voice down. 

“I-I just wanted to keep it private. I’m allowed to have privacy now and then.” He hissed quietly. Sari gave him a scowl.

“Yeah, but I’m your _ best friend. _ " She responded, thankfully keeping her voice down as well. "You're supposed to tell me stuff like this.” she argued, clearly unhappy that Bumblebee had kept her in the dark about this. He let out a tired sigh.

“Yeah, I know, I know.” Bumblebee conceded, “But, now that you know you have to promise that you'll keep this a secret." He said seriously, "You can't go around telling  _ anyone _ else on the team, you have to promise!” He insisted, his body language as well as his tone of voice conveying just how important it was to him that she keep this information on the down low. "You can't even tell Bulkhead!" She seemed a little confused by how vehement he was on the subject, but she eventually responded.

“Okay, okay cross my heart.” She said, make the familiar motion of an X across her chest. The small concession that she wouldn't tell actually calmed Bumblebee enough to let out a huge sigh of relief, his panicked spark finally stopping its frantic beating, if only just slightly. Sari continued. “...Sooo, what’s he like?” She asked with a grin, curiosity glimmering in her eyes.

“He's...”Bumblebee's mind flashed through the many truthful descriptions that could be said about Blitzwing as he tried to think of something that wouldn't expose him as, well  _ him _ . “Well, he’s… big, he's really big and he cares about me." He confessed a bit flustered, "He's also really fun to be around.” Bumblebee finished, hoping that if he stayed vague Sari wouldn't catch on.

“He sounds like a great guy.” Sari commented.

“Yeah, he is,” Bumblebee said, giving her a small smile. Sari seemed to think about what he'd said for a moment before she realized something.

“Hey, all those times you had to leave base to get some air, were you actually meeting up with your bf?” She asked, as if she'd suddenly had an epiphany. Bumblebee gave her a short chuckle.

“No, I used that time to call him though." He said, "We usually meet up at least once a week at night and we've even worked it out so that we meet up on Sunday of every even week and on Saturday of every odd week.” If he was being honest, it was actually kind of nice to be able to talk, even if just a little, about his relationship. Keeping it a secret and being forced to live a double life was exhausting. Especially, since he was the type to ramble on about anything that happened to pop into his processor, and in general disliked lying. Sari spoke up again.

“Sooo when do I get to meet him?” That single, seemingly innocent question had Bumblebee's spark feeling like it was lodged in his throat.

“Never!” He cried, his mouth already forming the words before he had time to fully comprehend what he was saying. Sari gave him a weird look and Bumblebee, feeling rather embarrassed, rubbed the back of his helm as he hastily attempted to explain himself. “What I meant is that um… he's just- I mean... He’s really shy?" Bumblebee could've slapped himself for making that sound like a question, but he was in too deep to backtrack now. "Ye-yeah, that's right, he can be super shy around new people, and he's really not a fan of humans, so I just don’t think meeting him would be a great idea.” Sari gave him an odd look before eventually shrugging; apparently accepting his excuse.

“Well, okay I guess, but do you at least have a picture of him? Oh, my gosh what’s his name!?” That sentence rang out in the otherwise quiet of the base and it felt deafening to Bumblebee as he let the question hang in the air for a moment.

“His-his name?” Bumblebee repeated numbly.

“Yeah!" She exclaimed, "His name isn't really "Neapolitan Ice cream" right? So what’s his  _ real _ name?!”

“Well it’s, It’s a-” He desperately tried to think of a fictitious Cybertronian name that would sound real enough to convince Sari there was an actual person behind it, but he just kept coming up blank in his panic. ' _ Oh, Primus help me!’ _

Suddenly, as if in answer to his prayers, Optimus purposely strode out of his quarters and into the living room as he called for his team to assemble.

“I just got a call from Captain Fanzone! The angry archer is creating problems down town and we need to go now!”

Bumblebee offered his silent thanks to Primus as he practically leapt off of the sofa.

“Ah! Sorry Sari, I guess we'll just have to talk about this another time!”

“He-hey wait a second! What’s his name!?” she screamed after him but Bumblebee had hit the ground running and already had one ped out the door.

“Bye Sari!” he yelled, ignoring her cries for him to come back, as he transformed and took off at top speed.

* * *

Sari just watched as Bumblebee sped out through the open door and disappeared; the rest of the Autobots following soon after. 

She frowned and leaned back on the sofa with a huff. She was still sort of mad at Bee for keeping his boyfriend a secret from her. It seemed like he was keeping a lot of things from her lately, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit. They were best friends, talking about crushes and people they like-liked was part of the deal when people said they were bff’s.

It was as she sat there brooding over all the ways she'd get back at him for keeping secrets that she looked to her side and realized something.

Bumblebee had been in such a rush to leave that he'd actually forgotten to take his data pad with him. Sari picked up the innocuous looking object that had started it all, and just stared at it for a while. Suddenly, the makings of an ingenious idea hit her and her pout was quickly replaced by a mischievous grin.

Oh, they were  _ so _ going to talk about this another time, and if Sari had anything to say about it, it'd be at the same time she met Bumblebee's mysterious boyfriend face to face.

Without wasting any more time she pulled up the ‘Neapolitan Ice cream’ contact. Bumblebee had said they met up every week, so that had to mean that whoever he was seeing was on earth. She couldn't remember hearing about any other Autobots being stationed on earth except for team prime, but who knew, maybe there were other people on earth and she just didn’t know.

She took a moment to think up a good plan, and only after she was sure she'd thought out everything did she start typing out a new message.

‘Hey, can we change the meeting spot for the next week?’ She could feel herself tingling with anticipation as she waited for a response. It took a while, so long in fact that she'd started playing a game on her phone to pass the time, but finally after maybe 20 minutes Bumblebee's data pad buzzed and a response appeared on the screen.

'Why?' Sari scowled, it really wasn't the response she'd been hoping for, but she could work with it. She took a moment to figure out what she could say to convince them before writing back.

'It’s a surprise.' She had decided early on that her best option was to be vague. She'd already read through some of Bumblebees and this mysterious other person's messages, but she still didn’t know a lot, so she was hoping that by being vague she wouldn’t set off any alarm bells that would make them realize they weren't actually talking to Bumblebee. The response was immediate this time.

'You and your surprises' Sari felt worried for a moment that she might've said something wrong, but thankfully a follow up text put her at ease. 'Very well then. What's the location?' Sari felt her smile return as she quickly tried to think of the various different locations that would make for good spots, before she finally settled on an old factory her dad owned, or well  _ had _ owned. Sari cringed, even the smaller of reminders that he wasn’t around stung, but she shook it off. If she wanted her plan to work out she'd need to focus.

The factory was empty at the moment, so it should be relatively safe. It was in a pretty calm area that most people didn't go to at night so it'd be the perfect spot for a meet up. She wrote a description on how to get to the building and then sent it to ‘Neapolitan Ice cream’. The response was immediate.

'Is it safe?' She lifted a brow at the question.  _ ‘Okay, so he's kind of paranoid,’  _ Sari noted. Bumblebee had said that he was a little shy, so she decided to overlook his seemingly baseless worry.

'Yeah, totally! 100%!' She sent back, hoping that if she sounded confident it would ease the nerves of whoever was on the other end enough that they wouldn't reject the location outright. 

'Very well, I'll see you there’ Sari felt her grin widen mischievously at how well her plan was going, but she had one more thing to take care of. 

'By the way, my data pad keeps glitching out and I'll be really busy this week so don’t contact me  _ at all _ this week' an answering message came through fairly quickly.

'Understood, see you there. Love you' Sari made a disgusted retching sound before she reluctantly wrote back: 'Love you too' 

Now it was time for stage two of her plan.

She pressed the delete button and carefully erased all the messages from their latest chat, before changing the contact name from ‘Neapolitan Ice cream’ to 'Sari'.

She then went to her own contact on Bumblebees pad and changed her name from ‘Sari’, to ‘Neapolitan Ice cream’, making sure to erase the conversation there too just to be safe. 

She then quickly pulled up Bumblebee's contact on her phone and typed out a message.

'Hey, meet me here next week, it’s important' She wrote, sending a description to the building. After some consideration she also added 'It’s safe', just in case Bumblebee happened to be as uncertain of the new location change as his boyfriend was. She then finished up the messages with, 'I’m also very busy and my datapad keeps glitching out; I need to repair it. So, don’t contact me this week.' She sent the message off and saw it pop up on Bumblebee's data pad under the contact name ‘Neapolitan Ice cream’. She smiled deviously, feeling like a mad genius as she put the datapad safely on the cushion next to her. 

Now all she had to do was to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some amazing fanart for this chapter!   
> https://cyperthenotebringer.tumblr.com/post/636965114690584576/crossing-the-line


	6. Revealing the clandestine

Sari had been almost unbearably excited as she waited for the sun to go down. The whole day had been full of near misses as she tried to disguise her growing eagerness, but _finally_ the last member of team prime decided to call it a night and Sari could finally put her plan into motion. Jumping out of bed, she grabbed her warmest jacket, her helmet, and her favorite pair of orange roller skates. After making sure the skates were securely fastened around her ankles, she carefully opened her door and peeked out into the hallway. 

She couldn't hear anything apart from the usual sounds of the old factory, and seeing as no one seemed to be getting back up, she quietly emerged from her room.

She then made the nerve-wracking journey through to base as she snuck towards the base's entrance. Opening the door released a wall of cold air and it was only then that she remembered that it was _freezing_ outside. Winter had hit Detroit hard and it had been easy to forget thar when she'd been inside the base. Now, as she stood shivering, and trying to rub warmth back into her arms she realized she could actually see her own breath. It was also really dark, with the only consistent light source being the lampposts placed strategically along the road. 

It definitely wasn’t the best time for a child to be out. The dark shadows that stretched over the surrounding buildings alone made her a little nervous, but Sari was _determined_ to find out who Bumblebee's mysterious boyfriend was, and in the end her curiosity was able to chase away any lingering hesitation she might have felt. Pushing off of the sidewalk She started skating away from the base and towards the meeting spot she'd picked out last week. If she wanted to get there before they did she'd have to be quick.

She moved through the dimly lit streets of Detroit for about 10 minutes before she finally got to a district that consisted mostly of office buildings and huge industrial factories. 

The streets were fairly devoid of pretty much everything, and the only signs of human life were one or two office windows still illuminated by people working late.

She continued skating along the sidewalk until she saw the building she was looking for. She'd been here with her dad once before it'd been shut down so the area was sort of familiar to her.

The building in question had a big garage door, usually it would be used by delivery trucks when they came to load up or drop off goods, but she ignored it and instead looked for the side door used by employees. 

She found the door fairly quicker but it was secured with an electric lock. Thankfully, a swift turn of her key was able to bypass the locking mechanism and she walked inside. 

She sneezed as soon as she opened the door. The warehouse was super dusty and even her smallest movements sent up waves of it into the air. It was also pretty dark on the inside, but thankfully nearby street lights shone through the grime covered windows and provided just enough light so that she wouldn’t be stumbling around blindly. 

She started examining the inside and saw she'd walked right into a big room full of deactivated conveyor belts, boxes and spare robot parts. She also took notice of the big garage door she'd seen when she first arrived. 

Sari remembered that Bumblebee had described his boyfriend as 'big', so she guessed whoever he was with must have been bigger than Bumblebee. Not that that was saying much considering that most Autobots were bigger than him. So, she could only guess that his boyfriend was going to be too big to enter a human sized door and would probably have to use the garage door instead.

Having worked out where both bots would probably enter from, Sari began looking around for a good hiding spot. If Bumblebee showed up and saw her here, he might alert his boyfriend and call the whole thing off, but if mystery mech showed up first… Well, she didn’t want to meet him without Bumblebee around since he'd mentioned that his boyfriend didn’t like humans and she didn't want him to feel awkward or possibly scare him away.

She finally chose a spot behind a stack of boxes. It was far enough from both the entrance and the windows so that she wouldn't be seen and it had a shadowed spot that was just big enough for her to hide in. She was forced to kneel down so that her head wouldn't stick out, and sitting like that made her legs uncomfortably cold, but she would survive. 

She sat there in silence for another 10 minutes, at least according to her phone, before she finally heard some rustling. She peeped over the top of the box just as the garage door started to rise, and she let out a sigh of relief when Bumblebee appeared from the other side. Apparently he'd gotten there first.

He looked around for a moment, his optics searching for something. Sari quickly ducked back down and tried to breathe as quietly as she could. This whole thing was starting to feel like an intense game of hide and seek, and both excitement and nervousness bubbled up inside of her. 

She stayed still as she listened for any further movement, and after a few seconds she heard the garage door closing and the sounds of light footsteps as Bumblebee moved away from the entrance. 

Sari dared to take another peek over the box she was hiding behind, and saw that Bumblebee had walked over to one of the conveyor belts and had taken a seat. He drummed his digits as he sat and he seemed to be waiting for something because he kept his optics trained on the entrance. As she continued to watch him, Sari couldn’t help but notice how excited he looked. He kept bouncing in place and swinging his legs back and forth; seemingly unable to stay still. 

She felt her heart start to pump faster as the minutes passed by, and she found it difficult to contain her own excitement. Her imagination ran wild as she tried to imagine what Bumblebee's boyfriend would look like and what kind of personality he might have. 

Sari was so absorbed in her own imagination that she was only dragged back to the real world when Bumblebee suddenly perked up as if he had heard something. 

At his sudden reaction Sari started trying to listen for whatever Bumblebee might've heard. Sari turned her head to the side as she continued to listen closely, but all she heard was the sound of a… jet plane? No, that couldn’t be right, Bumblebee must've been reacting to something else.

However, the sound only grew louder until it was close enough to be almost deafening, and just as the noise became almost unbearable, it suddenly cut off and a moment later a heavy thud echoed from somewhere outside. After a few seconds Sari could still feel the fine tremors of the aftershock, so she knew that whatever had landed must have been extremely heavy.

Suddenly, she started getting an uneasy feeling. Something about this wasn't right. 

She looked away from Bumblebee just in time to see four large, black digits curl under the garage door. She had to slap both hands over her mouth to muffle her gasp of horror, because when the door got lifted up, so did she that on the other side, crouching with one hand still under the sliding door, was Blitzwing.

The fluorescent lamps that lined the street cast an ominous shadow over his features, leaving behind the eerie glow of his crimson optics. They felt so different from the usual soft blue of team primes. 

_'Blitzwing?! What is he doing here?!'_ She only felt more panicked as the seconds ticked by and with it came an unbidden feeling of guilt. _'Did he see Bee enter this building?!'_ She thought frantically _, 'Was he watching this whole time just waiting for an opportunity to attack?!'_ If that ended up being the case, and Bumblebee got hurt just because she'd tricked him into coming here, Sari knew she'd never be able to forgive herself. 

Sari felt her heart beat speed up and it felt as if the organ was going to beat right out of her rib cage. All she could do was stare up in horror as the optics of his blue faceplate narrowed, and immediately zeroed in on Bumblebee. His expression every bit as cold and unfeeling as always.

Her eyes then shifted to Bumblebee just as he jumped off the conveyor belt and pointed his newly transformed stingers at the unhinged Decepticon.

“Blitzwing, what a surprise.” He said with a smug grin. Sari just watched as her worst nightmare unfolded in front of her eyes. 

What was he doing?! He had no chance against Blitzwing! He was like, three times his size if not more! She just wanted to scream at him to run, to remind him that he didn’t stand a chance against Blitzwing, and that if he kept antagonizing the big con he'd end up dying here! But to her absolute horror Bumblebee showed no sign that he was willing to back down, and if anything it was the opposite. Her best friend looked like he was fully prepared to go head to head with the con.

She felt her heart skip a beat as Blitzwing lowered his cannons and pointed them towards the minibot, his expression stoic.

“Bug...” Blitzwing hissed. His voice was cold and with that single word Sari could feel her fear for her best friend health reaching a fever pitch. The only time they'd managed to take down Blitzwing was when Bumblebee, her _and_ Captain Fanzone had worked together during the whole street racing fiasco, but even then the odds had _just happened_ to be in their favour and it was three against one. Now, the odds couldn't be more against them! One small human and a minibot versus an overpowered triple changer was not a bet she was willing to take.

Sari knew she had to do something fast or else Bumblebee would get himself murdered!

She quickly opened her phone and tried to access her contact list, but her hands were shaking so badly that it was hard to press the right buttons. 

She was finally able to open it after a few seconds of fumbling and she immediately started scrolling through the short list of people she knew before she landed on the name, “Optimus”. Her sudden call would more than likely wake him up, and she'd be grounded for the rest of her life once he realized she'd snuck out in the middle of the night, but if it meant that she could save Bumblebee's life then it would be worth it.

She was just about to hit the call button when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. 

Blitzwing had kneeled down onto one knee and was reaching towards Bumblebee. His cannons had gone back to their stand by position and with shock she realized that Bumblebee had retracted his stingers and was now running towards the Decepticon.

Sari didn't understand what was happening at first, but as soon Bumblebee was within reach, Blitzwing grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him up into the air before pulling him into a kiss.

The overwhelming fear and panic she'd felt for Bumblebee's safety came to a screeching halt as it was drowned out by complete and utter shock at what was happening in front of her eyes. 

Bumblebee was kissing Blitzwing. _His enemy_ . A person he and the rest of his team fought on a near weekly basis had just lifted Bumblebee up like it was nothing and was _kissing him!_ Sari just sat there feeling numb as she tried to process this shocking turn of events. Her plan to phone for help completely forgoten.

She watched until their kiss came to an end, but even after they'd parted Blitzwing still kept Bumblebee in his arms. Bumblebee even seemed to lean in into the touch and had rested his chin on Blitzwing's shoulder.

“Not talking to you for a week is literally torture.” The minibot groaned. Sari could hear what he was saying, but it was like the words didn’t want to register inside her mind. She had a sinking feeling about the situation she'd stumbled upon, but the confusion, shock, and down right absurdity of what she was seeing made it difficult to accept that any of it was real. If anything it felt more like she was trapped in some sort of wild fever dream.

At Bumblebee's words she saw Blitzwings lips quirk up into a soft smile. A smile! The stoic blue face of his was actually smiling!

“I agree." He said, with a gentle tone that Sari didn't think he was even capable of. Bumblebee just looked up at him with his signature grin.

“Yeah, so anyway did you get your data pad fixed?” The room went quiet after that. Blitzwing gazed back at the minibot with a look of confusion and Sari felt her heart stop at the realization that her involvement was about to be discovered.

If this had gone the way she'd planned for it to go, this would've been the time she jumped out and revealed herself, but now she didn’t dare. She'd somehow gotten in way over her head and it was only now that she realized that this whole thing was much, much more serious than just some silly crush. Bumblebee also hadn’t been kidding when he'd said his boyfriend, “wasn't a fan of humans". 

“I never had a problem with my data pad.” Now it was Bumblebee's turn to look confused.

“You didn’t?” He asked, Blitzwing shook his helm. “But, in your last message you told me you did!” It looked like Blitzwing was processing what Bumblebee had said because he took a moment before responding.

“No, you told me that your data pad was glitching and that you were busy. That’s why I didn’t contact you this week.” Bumblebee just seemed to get more bewildered as their conversation stretched on, but eventually something must have clicked as his features morphed into a look of horror.

“I... I never said that.” He finally responded. Blitzwing must have come to the same realization because he visibly paled, and his optics widened in what could only be described as terror. 

“Were you the one that asked me to meet you in this factory?” He asked urgently.

“No, I- I wasn't.” Blitzwing’s reaction was immediate. He let Bumblebee back down just as his faceplate switched to Hothead and he took a fighting stance, lowering his cannons and looking wildly around the room.

“We've been set up!” Sari immediately ducked down as far as she could, and prayed that they didn't notice her. 

“What?!” Bumblebee yelled in disbelief, “H-how is that possible?! Did someone hack into our chat?!” 

“I don’t know.” Blitzwing responded, panic and worry dancing on the edge of his voice, “Were you followed here?!” He then questioned.

“No, I made sure that none of my teammates followed me from base! Did someone follow you!?” Bumblebee's voice was starting to sound alarmingly panicked in a way Sari didn't think she'd ever heard before.

Sari felt her heart pounding painfully in her chest as it finally dawned on her that she might've made a horrible mistake. 

She had none intentionally stirred both of the other occupants in the room into a panic, and at this point she was starting to get seriously worried about what would happen if she was exposed. People that were panicked didn't always make the best decisions, and she was worried that if she came forward Blitzwing might hurt her, especially now that he was on Hothead. Would Bumblebee even be able to save her if it came down to it?

She needed to go _now._ Maybe if they didn't find anything after searching the place they'd calm down, and if she could just sneak past them then she could call Bumblebee from a safe distance and explain everything. Her breathing kept speeding up with every nervous inhale, and the longer she sat there the more she realized that she had no idea what to do. She hadn’t planned for this! She knew that she needed to leave, but she wasn't even sure how she would manage that! She'd consciously pick a hiding place away from both exits so she wouldn't be seen, but that was really working against her now. Maybe she should just make a run for it? She'd have to leave her hiding place, and if she did she'd surely be seen, but if she stayed where she was, and they started looking around they'd eventually find her anyway. 

She needed a plan and that fast! Think Sari! Think!

She was pulled suddenly from her panicked attempts to form a plan when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. A warm gust of air brushed against the top of her head, and with dread she realized she could smell the faint scent of motor oil.

Sari looked up and felt as if all the blood had frozen in her veins. Her heart beat stuttered and her eyes doubled in size as she came face to face with the jagged grin of Blitzwing's black faceplate.

Sari had been so preoccupied with planning her escape that she'd completely failed to notice that he'd been getting dangerously close to her hiding spot. Now, he was crouching right above her, his optics mere red slits on his face as he glared down at her.

“Peekaboo.” He said, his voice held its usual playful lilt, but it was hard to miss the undercurrent of rage that seemed to be burning just under the surface. 

Sari just stared back at him in numb shock, although she was quickly sent scrambling when Blitzwing lifted one of his large, black servos and tried to slam it on top of her, like someone trying to kill a mosquito.

She quickly darted out of her hiding place and tried to skate towards the nearest exit. She could hear Blitzwing crushing the boxes she'd been hiding behind along with the tell-tell sound of wood splintering as he moved after her. 

A second later she heard a harsh whirl of sound and then the angry voice of Hothead shouted after her.

“Stand still you disgusting vermin, so I can turn you to paste!” Well, she certainly wouldn't be following _that_ order, she thought grimly. If anything, the continued threats directed towards her just motivated her to go faster as she raced for the exit. 

She'd been steadfastly ignoring the urge to look behind her so when a violent, “slam!” shook the ground, it was able to take her completely off guard. As if her shaky legs weren't already enough of an obstacle, the tremor that rocked the ground was more than enough to knock her off balance. As she fell to the ground, the phone she'd been carrying slipped out of her hand and hit the ground hard, shattering the screen. The minimal light it had been giving off flickered before blinking out entirely, and with that so did her last hope also disappear.

She was just in the process of struggling to her feet when she felt the ground tremble underneath her hands; a large shadow enveloping her form. She rolled over and lifted herself up on her elbows and was met with the towering frame of Blitzwing who was still set on Hothead.

He looked just as pissed off as she had imagined, and with a mighty scowl he lifted his ped above her head. With a sense of unbridled horror Sari realized what was about to happen. He was going to _step_ on her!

Sari made another valiant attempt to get up but her roller skates kept slipping out from under her, and even if she did manage to right herself, she knew she wouldn't be nearly fast enough.

As Blitzwing's ped loomed closer, she turned to the side and put her arms over her head in a pathetic attempt to shield herself. She shut her eyes tightly as she waited, not wanting to see the end coming. Sari laid there just long enough to have her short life flash before her eyes before everything was suddenly brought to a standstill by a loud yell.

“Stop!” The voice sounded both commanding and alarmingly panicked, causing the room to go silent. All Sari could hear were her own panicked breath and the pumping of blood and in her ears.

She slowly uncovered her head, and when she finally worked up the courage to open her eyes the first thing she saw was the bottom of Blitzwing's ped. It had stopped just above her. Immediately, after the discovery that she was in fact still alive, Bumblebee entered her field of vision. He had his back to her and was pushing against Blitzwing's leg. “That’s Sari!” He screamed.

Blitzwing looked genuinely surprised, but eventually an expression of recognition appeared on his faceplate as he looked down at her again. Sari couldn’t help but shrink down on herself as she was stared at, but soon after he removed his ped so it was no longer over her small body and put it down. He then just kind of... stood there, before he turned towards Bumblebee for direction.

With the threat dealt with, Bumblebee immediately spun around and crouched by her side. His optics were worried as he looked her over for wounds or scrapes; thankfully, finding none.

“My Primus Sari! Are you okay?!” Sari sat up slowly after that, just looked at him with wide eyes as she shot nervous glances towards Blitzwing. She was still breathing fast enough to be close to hyperventilating and adrenaline was pumping through her veins, but now that the danger had pasted it slowly started to ebb away. What was more important was identifying what had just happened. 

Bumblebee had just asked Blitzwing to stop and he'd done it. He had actually listened to him! This was weird, this was so, so _so_ weird! She took a few more deep breaths before she was finally calm enough to address Bumblebee.

“Why are you hanging out with Blitzwing?!” Bumblebee cringed, but Sari didn't give him a chance to respond. “Isn’t he evil and stuff!?” she screamed, trying to convey just how absurd she found all of this.

Bumblebee made rapid motions with his servos for her to calm down.

“It’s kind of complicated” He said finally, his voice was gentle and abnormally calm as if he was hoping it would somehow pacify her. "But you don’t have to be afraid. I promise he won’t hurt you." He said, before turning to the larger mech. "Isn’t that right Blitzwing?” 

Blitzwing just looked at them both contemplatively before answering in a serious tone.

“Bumblebee, if she gets back to your team and tells them about this, then-” Bumblebee immediately cut him off once he realised where Blitzwing was going.

“We are not getting rid of Sari! She’s my best friend!” He said sternly, making it clear this was not a subject up for debate. Blitzwing scowled as he met Bumblebees optics, and it looked like they were having something of a stare off before Blitzwing finally let out a sigh of defeat. 

“I won’t hurt the human.” 

“Sari.” Bumblebee corrected. Blitzwing just let out a huff and started to pace around the room, looking as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. Bumblebee then turned back towards her.

Sari just kept shooting astonished looks at both Bumblebee and Blitzwing, still not even close to used to them speaking casually to each other. Though, from the way they talked, it was clear that Bumblebee held no fear of retaliation from Blitzwing and the casual air they both seemed to talk to each other with was what finally helped her calm down enough to get back to her feet.

Bumblebee seemed to pick up on her obvious confusion as she looked between the two of them and he let out a tired sigh as he began to reveal everything. 

* * *

“Sooo,” Bumblebee started, he felt awkward talking about this. How did someone even begin to explain that they knowingly were committing high treason by hanging out with the enemy? After a tense moment of realizing that there probably wasn't any good way to reveal such a thing, and with no prior plan in place, he decided to just go with his gut instinct and began explaining. “Okay, so it’s like this. Me and Blitz got stuck on that show together, you remember that?” Sari nodded,

"Kind of hard to forget." She said with a huff, Bumblebee ignored her comment and continued.

”We spent a lot of time together while we were held there and after a while we realized…” Bumblebee had to take a moment to steel his nerves. This would be the first time he voiced his treasonous activity out loud, and he was so beyond nervous it was ridiculous. “Well… that- that we _loved_ each other." Bumblebee explained, "So, after we got out we chose to stay together.” Sari was quiet for a long moment as she stared at him in disbelief. 

“ _Blitzwing_ is your boyfriend!?” She finally exclaimed, as if it had only just hit her what all of this meant.

“Ye-yeah.” Bumblebee admitted weakly. ”But I swear he’s not as bad as you might think!" He quickly added "He’s actually pretty nice and he can be really fun to be around, well when he’s not being a giant pain in my aft.” That last part was mumbled. 

Sari once again looked disbelieving between the mech three times his size and Bumblebee before a scowl appeared on her face. Bumblebee felt his spark sinking at her expression and he tried to prepare himself for when she inevitably tore into him for dating a “crazy Decepticon”.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” She yelled at him. Okay… we'll that certainly wasn't what he'd expected her to say, but nonetheless Bumblebee gave her a light scowl back.

“I couldn’t!” He defended himself, “You might've told the rest of the team and if they heard about this, they might flip and- and then I might never get to see him again...” That explanation did nothing but make her frown harder.

“But, I’m your _best friend Bee!_ Why would you think I would do something like that?! I'd never do something so awful as to destroy your relationship!” Bumblebee looked up from where he'd averted his optics and stared at her in surprise. 

“You-you're not mad that I'm dating Blitzwing?” Sari threw up her hands in exasperation.

“I’m mad that you're still keeping stuff from me!” She said, "And I'm mad that you didn't think you could trust me with this, but you said that he cared about you. So, as long as he doesn't hurt you or something then I don’t care who you like-like! I’m your best friend, not your mom or some cop!” Bumblebee just looked back at her for a long moment before his lips pulled into a big smile. All the worry and fear he'd been holding on to so tightly just seemed to drain out of him at her casual acceptance. 

He'd been so scared that Sari would hate him if she found out, but if anything, she seemed pretty okay with Blitzwing and him being together. The relief he felt was immeasurable.

“Thank you.” He finally breathed out, a genuine smile across his face. However, before he could completely let down his guard, Sari pointed an accusing finger at him, and he realized he wasn’t quite off the hook yet.

“Just remember, this is your second strike, if there's a third one and you're out mister!” she said sternly, “No more keeping secrets from me! You also own me a new phone.” She said, glancing down at the shattered remains of her cell phone. Bumblebee just sighed.

“You can use my data pad until I get you a new one…” Bumblebee trailed off at the end of that sentence as comprehension slowly dawned on him. “Were… were you the one that set up me and Blitzwing?!” He asked suddenly, as he turned back towards her. 

Sari's scowl quickly dissolved as she instead looked down and with a guilty hunch to her shoulders.

“Maybe…” She said quietly, unable to meet his optics. Bumblebee scowled at her and threw up his arms.

“You could have gotten seriously hurt! Primus, you almost did! We thought we were about to be ambushed or something!” Sari glared up at him.

“If you'd just told me the truth from the start then I wouldn’t have had to do it in the first place!” She argued.

“Sari-” He didn’t get any further before Blitzwing joined in on the conversation.

“Wait, so you're telling me that the both of us were outsmarted by a human sparkling?!” He yelled, only sounding angrier with every word he spoke. 

“Hey! You've been tricked by humans before!” Bumblebee argued, “Remember Master-”

“I know Bumblebee!” Blitzwing interrupted, clearly not wanting to think about _that._ “You don’t need to remind me! But at least _he_ wasn't a sparkling!” He pointed out.

“But she’s really smart!” Bumblebee responded, as if that could be consolation for the big mech. “Her dad is like, one of the most intelligent people ever!” Sari seemed hesitant at first to have the spotlight put on her, but she quickly gained confidence and spoke.

“Yeah he is!” She shouted with conviction, “You might know him," she said cockily, "He's the guy who rebuilt Megatron!” She still seemed a little uneasy around Blitzwing, but it was clear that she was trying not to be.

Blitzwing seemed to freeze up as he caught what she'd just said, and for a moment he seemed to get pulled into deep thoughts, but before Bumblebee had time to point out his odd reaction he shook himself out of it and switched to Icy. He then turned his attention back to Sari, his voice no longer containing rage it held moments ago as he addressed her. It still wasn’t the soft, gentle tone that he used when speaking with Bumblebee, but neither was it the harsh, terrifying tone he spoke with while at "work".

“Does anyone else know about this?” Sari shook her head. 

“No, not unless Bee has revealed it to anyone else.” Both of them then looked towards the resident minibot. Bumblebee gave them both a harsh glare.

“I’m not that stupid!” He yelled, crossing his arms over his chest and turning away from them with an aggravated huff.

“The fact that you inadvertently revealed our relationship to at least one person clearly goes against that statement.” Blitzwing responded, clearly talking about Sari. His off-hand comment earned him a giggle from Sari.

“It was an accident!” He shouted defensively, “And it all ended up working out!” Blitzwing scowled at how lightly he was taking this. He then looked over towards Sari and seemed to scrutinize her for a moment, his mono lense spinning as he scanned her from top to toe. She squirmed slightly under his intense glare, but eventually Blitzwing appeared satisfied with his assessment and turned back to Bumblebee.

“Can she be trusted not to tell anyone about this?” He asked, acting as if Sari wasn’t even there. It kind of irritated Bumblebee, but before he had a chance to form a response, Sari answered for him. 

“Of course you can!” She said, making an exaggerated X over her chest, “Cross my heart and hope to die! My lips are sealed…” She trailed off for a moment as she suddenly realized the power she'd held over the two bots. “ _But only i_ f you do something for me.” She added with a mischievous grin. 

Blitzwing's expression turned pensive as he looked towards Bumblebee, waiting to see how the minibot would proceed. Bumblebee just let out a tired sigh.

“Okay." He said, "What are your demands?” Sari quickly pointed towards Blitzwing.

“You have to take me for a ride as a plane!” Blitzwing's response was immediate. 

”I would rather jump in a smelting pit.”

”Blitz!” Bumblebee said, scowling at him. Blitzwing's faceplate switched to Hothead,

”There's no way I’m letting a flesh bag into my cockpit!” He yelled, knocking lightly against the glass on his chest for emphasis.

”Stop calling her that! or ‘organic’ or ‘human’ Primus, it was bad enough when you used to call me,‘bug’ or ‘Autobot’ and I’m _not_ going through that again.” He couldn’t see anything under Blitzwing's visor, but he was pretty sure he was rolling his optics. Bumblebee gave him one last warning glare to behave before turning his attention back to Sari.

“Could you please ask for something else?” He asked, his optics pleading. Sari looked disappointed, but nodded her head as she tried to think of something different to ask for. 

”Hmmm... Alright, alright I've got it!” She said, snapping her fingers. “You have to freeze the lake or something so we can go ice skating!” 

”Ice skating?” Blitzwing asked, sounding confused as he looked to Bumblebee for an explanation.

”It’s a human sport. ” Bumblebee explained, “Humans put these blades on their feet and move around on top of the ice.” Seeing that Blitzwing still didn't seem convinced he quickly added, “You won't even have to touch her.” Blitzwing looked between the two of them for a long moment before he switched back to icy with a sigh.

“I agree to your terms.” He said, more than likely realising that her demands wouldn't get any better than this.

“Yes!” Sari said, making a small fist bump and ignoring Blitzwing's drawn out sigh. After a small victory lap around Bumblebee's legs she spoke again. “Sooo, how long have you two been dating?” She asked with a grin. Bumblebee rubbed nervously at the back of his neck as he quickly tried to calculate the passage of time.

“I think our relationship has entered its… third month?” He said, somewhat uncertain and looked up at Blitzwing for confirmation. He got a small nod in return.

“So, what do you guys usually do when you meet up?” Sari continued. Bumblebee shrugged.

“Pretty much whatever we feel like. Sometimes we talk, tell jokes, we've even danced. You know, like, normal relationship stuff.”

“Like _kissing_?” Sari teased, causing Bumblebee's cheeks to grow warmer.

“Oh. So, you saw that.” He said awkwardly, Sari looked at him for a moment before uttering a single word.

“Gross!” 

“Hey!” Bumblebee shouted, and he was just about to start ranting, when he felt Blitzwing suddenly walking up behind him. He peered up at the big con just as his faceplate switched to Random. Before Bumblebee had time to figure out what he was planning, Blitzwing pinned his arms behind his back and dipped him low before pulling him into a deep kiss.

It all happened so quickly he had little to no time to register what was happening, though he distinctly heard Sari making exaggerated retching sounds in the background. Eventually, Blitzwing ended their kiss and allowed Bumblebee to stand up again. Bumblebee glowered at the triple changer, his cheeks glowing a bright pink.

“Not in front of Sari!” He hissed. Blitzwing spared her a glance from where she was still making disgusted sounds, but to Bumblebee's irritation, he could only see satisfaction reflected in his red optics.

“Why not?! If she's going to be hanging out with us then she better get used to it!” He said with an obnoxious cackle. Bumblebee just let out an annoyed huff.

“And you say _I’m_ insufferable.” 

“Get a room you two!” Sari shouted at them. Blitzwing looked down at her, his faceplate switching back to Icy.

“This is what you asked for when you trifled with our messages. You have no one to blame but yourself.” Sari responded by sticking her tongue out at him. Blitzwing narrowed his optics at her impertinence, before his irritation facilitated a switch to Hothead who emerged with a low growl.

Sari immediately shrunk at his anger, but the mischievous smile never really left her lips. It looked like she was still on the fence about the triple changer, but she didn't seem to be nearly as frightened anymore, as she got over the fact that they'd been enemies until just a moment ago. 

Bumblebee couldn’t put into words just how comforting that was. The notion that at least one person on his team was actually okay with him and Blitzwing being a thing was a welcome relief. Not only did she have his back, but she'd also been open minded enough to give Blitzwing a chance instead of writing him off as just another evil Decepticon. 

Though it was very probable that the only reason Sari was so okay with Blitzwing was, because unlike the rest of his team, she'd never been exposed to the sheer brutality of the Cybertronian war, or the aftermath of a millennia of infighting which had resulted with that certain stigmas got attached to both the Autobot and Decepticon brand that they'd all lived with, but Sari had never been truly exposed to the same level of that as the rest of team Prime.

Bumblebee was pulled from his grim musings when he heard Sari let out a yawn.

It was then that Bumblebee realised that Sari, who was still only a child, was out here in the middle of the night and was waaaaaay past her bedtime. Bumblebee had honestly forgotten about that, and even if he wasn’t usually the type of bot to nag her about bedtimes, he was still _technically_ responsible for her right now. She'd been out in the cold, nearly stomped to death, and learned that her best friend was dating the enemy. All that would leave anyone exhausted! 

“I think it’d be for the best if we started traveling back to base.” he said. Sari shook her head.

“No! I’m not tired yet.” she insisted.

“Sure you aren’t.” Bumblebee replied, clearly not believing her. He then looked up at Blitzwing with a sad smile “I’m sorry to have to cut this short, but I need to get her home.” Blitzwing gave him a nod of understanding and switched back to Icy.

“I’ll just call you like normal then?” He asked, Bumblebee gave him a big smile.

“Yeah, I’ll be looking forward to it!” Blitzwing's optics softened as he looked at the minibot, his voice gentle as he responded.

“Me too.”

They heard a small giggle and they both turned towards Sari who was watching both of them with a grin. Whatever softness had been in Blitzwing's expression instantly vanished as he looked down at her. 

“What is so humorous?” He asked coldly. Sari just gave them both another mischievous look, before singing: 

“Bumblebee and Blitzwing sitting in a-!” Bumblebee hastily slapped his servo over her mouth before she had the chance to embarrass him further.

“Well, would you look at the time! Time for us to go Sari!” He said and quickly transformed into his alt mode. Sari let out another giggle at his antics, but didn’t argue as she opened the passenger side door and hopped in.

Bumblebee saw Blitzwing grimacing through his side mirror, clearly disapproving of the fact that he let an organic inside his altmode, but he remained silent. Sari rolled down the side window before they had a chance to leave and called out to the triple changer.

“I'll see you next week! Just remember what you promised!” Blitzwing rolled his optics causing both Sari and Bumblebee to let out a chuckle.

“See you next week Blitzy! Love you!” Bumblebee called out as he started to drive away.

“I love you too.” Those were the last words they heard from Blitzwing before Bumblebee drove out of the factory and pulled onto a major highway.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before nervous energy forced Bumblebee to start talking.

“So, what do you think about Blitzwing?” He asked. “When he isn’t y’know… working?” Sari seemed to think for a moment before responding.

“He seems okay,” She said eventually, “He’s still a bit scary though.” Bumblebee couldn’t help but to let out a half hearted chuckle at that.

“Yeah, I can understand that” A beat of silence passed over them, before Bumblebee spoke up again. “I’m sorry if he scared you… Don’t tell him I said this, but you kind of freaked him out with this whole message thing, he’s kinda paranoid.” Sari quirked an eyebrow.

“ _I_ scared _him?”_ She asked, followed by a giggle. Bumblebee couldn’t help but join her. The sheer absurdity that a human child had managed to frighten a big Decepticon like Blitzwing was pretty funny in retrospect. After they'd both gotten their laughter under control she continued, “I scared him and he scared me, so I guess we're even now.” She said with a small grin. Bumblebee was just glad she didn’t seem shaken up by Blitzwing almost crushing her. 

“I guess.” Bumblebee responded. Sari was quiet for a moment before asking the question she'd been silently wondering since first learning Bee's secret.

“When are you going to tell the rest of the guys?” She asked, causing Bumblebee to go quiet.

“...I guess never, not unless the situation changes.” He finally answered. Sari lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

“Never? Not even to Bulkhead?” 

“You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!” Bumblebee quickly reminded her. Sari lifted up her hands in surrender.

“I didn’t say I would!" She insisted, "I'm just thinking that it’s gonna be hard to keep this whole thing a secret, especially for you!" Before Bumblebee had a chance to object to that statement she quickly continued, "And besides, it doesn't feel right to lie to the others like this." She said before continuing in a more serious tone, "Also, if they end up finding out about it the way I did, they or Blitzwing might freak out and hurt someone.” Bumblebee let out a somewhat irritated sigh, not wanting to accept that Sari had a fair point.

“I know, I know, it’s just… it's really hard. I’m worried about what'll happen if I ever tell them about this. I don't think any of them would take it even half as well as you did.” Sari placed a comforting hand on Bumblebee's dashboard. 

“Well, don't you worry! You've got me now, and I’ll have your back if things turn bad!” It wasn't much but even just her saying that gave him a bit of comfort.

“Thank you Sari… I'll- I'll consider it." Even as he said that, he knew it wasn't true at all.


	7. On thin ice

“Now remember Bumblebee, the cold weather has made the road slippery so be careful taking curves.” Optimus lectured.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Bumblebee huffed as he waited for Sari to put her shoes on. Optimus narrowed his optics at his dismissive tone, but he eventually just let out a tired sigh and turned his attention to Sari.

“Sari, please try to stay close to Bee at all times." He implored, "And don't forget, it’ll be dark soon so if you decide to walk make sure to use your safety reflectors.” Sari just nodded along absently as she finished lacing up her boots.

“Okay, I'm all done!” She declared, before running up to Bumblebee. “Let’s go!” Optimus looked between the two of them one last time and let out a sigh.

“Just  _ please _ be careful out there.” Bumblebee rolled his optics.

“We’ll be  _ fine _ Boss bot.” Bumblebee insisted, getting annoyed with his leader's worry. ”We’re only going to the drive-in theater.” That was a complete and utter lie, but Optimus didn’t need to know that.

“Yeah!” Said Sari, backing Bumblebee's claim. “We’re only going to the theater, so don't worry so much!” With that said, Bumblebee quickly transformed and popped open the passenger door for Sari, who happily jumped inside.

“Welp, we’re gonna get going, see ya all later boss bot!” Bumblebee shouted, as he put petal to the metal and peeled out of the base.

Bumblebee quickly turned off the main road, and before long they were driving down a familiar gravel path towards the abandoned warehouse.

“Where are we going?” Sari asked as she peered out of his window and into the dark forest that had quickly surrounded them.

“Blitz and I usually meet up in an abandoned building a little further down this road, so we'll hang out there to wait for him." Just as he finished his explanation, a large storage facility emerged from the gloom. 

Bumblebee had already decided he wouldn’t bother going inside to wait because as soon as Blitzwing arrived, they'd end up leaving anyway. 

He and Sari had found a perfect spot by Lake Erie that was both largely secluded and devoid of even the most adventurous of humans, so when they got there they’d have the entire place to themselves. 

They waited for a few more minutes until the familiar hum of a jet engine filled the air. Soon after, the giant form of Blitzwing came hurtling out of the low cloud cover and landed in front of them with a heavy thud. 

When the dust finally settled, Blitzwing was revealed to be standing with his arms crossed and a sour expression on his face. 

“Okay!” Bumblebee shouted, wanting to get this show on the road “Me and Sari already scouted out a good spot, so just follow us!” Blitzwing gave him a curt nod and sighed deeply.

“Let’s get this over with.” He muttered before transforming once again and taking off towards the star filled sky.

* * *

Blitzwing kept a steady pace as he followed Bumblebee to the lake side. When he saw the minibot stop, he noticed that they'd traveled well outside the city limits. The entire area was free of buildings and there didn't appear to be any signs of human life. 

As soon as he saw Sari exit Bumblebee's alt mode, he started to descend towards the ground. He ended up transforming midair and the shockwave from his sudden landing sent Sari stumbling to the ground.. 

She shot him a half hearted glare as she stood up again.

“Can’t you land any softer?” She whined. Blitzwing gave her a cold stare.

“When you get the ability to fly yourself, so can you complain about mine.” Sari continued to scowl at him, but she quickly recovered and began grinning mischievously. 

“If you're not good enough to make a nice landing you could've just said so,” Blitzwing stared blankly at her for a moment as his processor worked through what she'd just said. Eventually his optic narrowed before he switched to Hothead with a snarl. The audacity of this organic! If he wanted he could crush her head between two of his digits, and she dared to taunt him! 

Blitzwing let out a low, dark warning growl. If she had been anyone else he would've already grabbed her like a stone and skipped her across the lake. There was no way he'd let a measly organic sparkling speak to him that way without repercussion.

Sari did seem to shrink a bit at the sight of his anger. So, at the very least she still seemed to hold some fear for his angry faceplate, but that was cold comfort for the triple changer when she continued to  _ mock  _ him!

His progressively more angered thoughts on what he'd do to her if not for her and Bumblebee's relationship were cut off when Bumblebee himself walked over and pulled a large duffel bag out of his subspace.

“Here’s your stuff.” He said, placing it next to Sari. Sari immediately opened it up and started pulling out a different pair of ped coverings that had blades on the soles. Blitzwing thought Bumblebee might have referred to them as 'skates', or something, but honestly Blitzwing didn’t care enough to remember the name.

Bumblebee then looked up at him with a grateful smile. 

“Could you please freeze the lake now?” He asked. Blitzwing gave him a short nod before his faceplate switched to Random.

“Anything for you!” He exclaimed with a cackle, before turning his attention towards the lake. He then lowered his cannons and quickly began covering it with large sheets of ice. Once Blitzwing was satisfied with his work, he allowed his cannons to rise and turned back to his two person audience; his faceplate switching back to Icy.

“There. Is this enough?” Sari had just gotten finished putting on her skates, and was already making her way towards the ice.

It was a little difficult to maneuver her way through the sand, but she eventually made it. She almost lost her balance more than once on the slick surface, but she was quickly able to adapt to the new terrain.

“This is perfect!” She declared, turning towards Blitzwing. “Thank you!” Blitzwing didn’t bother to acknowledge her thanks, and instead sat down on the sandy beach.

As soon as he did, Bumblebee suddenly appeared next to him.

“Do you wanna skate?” he asked, Blitzwing just gave him an incredulous look.

“I’m good.” He said, he was embarrassed enough to be out here acting like an overgrown snow cone machine. He didn’t need his honour tarnished further by actually interacting with the organic more than necessary. Bumblebee just rolled his optics.

“C’mon, it'll be fun! You can at least give it a try!” 

“Maybe later.” Blitzwing replied, hoping that a partial concession would make Bumblebee let go of the subject. Bumblebee shrugged.

“Suit yourself I guess." He said, grabbing Blitzwing's servo and giving it a quick kiss. "Have fun being boring!” He then scampered off onto the ice and started sliding after Sari.

Blitzwing watched the both move around the ice for a while, and he quickly realized that Sari was  _ much _ better at this activity. Blitzwing would never admit it, but he was starting to find it hilarious just how bad Bumblebee was. Sari would tease the minibot by skating circles around him while Bumblebee would from time to time fall on his aft.

Though after another half-hour of this, Sari made her way back to the beach, panting heavily and taking a seat beside him. However, even if she'd decided to call it quits for the time being, he could see that Bumblebee was still flailing around on the ice.

Blitzwing looked down at her, confused as to why she'd returned to solid ground.

“Why did you stop?” He asked. Sari looked up at him and pointed at her skates

“My legs are starting to cramp up from wearing the skates.” She said, but this explanation only served to make Blitzwing more confused.

“Then why do it at all?” At that question Sari just gave him a sunny grin.

“Because it’s fun!” Their conversation ended after that, and for a few more minutes, they just watched as Bumblebee continued sliding on top of the ice. 

“Have you never gone ice skating?” Sari asked suddenly. Blitzwing didn’t bother turning his helm, and instead simply peered at her through the corner of his optic. He didn't much care for her attempts at small talk, but she was Bumblebee's best friend, so he knew he should at least  _ try _ to act civil to her. Besides, If it had been the other way around, and Bumblebee was the one forced to hang out any of Blitzwing's friends, he knew that minibot would probably extend the same courtesy. 

“I have slid on top of ice before, but I wouldn’t call that 'ice skating',” He said after a moment of internal deliberation. 

“Well, why not?" Sari asked, "Even if you didn’t technically skate, sliding on top of the ice is so much fun!" Her expression turned curious, "Is there some “no fun allowed” rule in the Decepticons?" Blitzwing let out a deep sigh as he was confronted by, what he felt, was a stupid question.

“No. I simply have more important things to do.” He replied rather harshly. He had hoped to discourage her from speaking with him further, but unfortunately he'd underestimated her stubbornness. 

“Like what? What else is there to do?” Blitzwing just shot her a cold glare. There was no way he was revealing Decepticons secrets to this human, for Primus sake, he didn’t even talk about those things with Bumblebee! He quickly changed the subject.

“Aren’t you up late for a sparkling?" He questioned instead, "What does your caretaker think about all of this?” The curious glimmer that had been in her eyes a moment ago quickly faded, and she seemed to wilt under his gaze. She was silent for a moment longer, before responding in a softer tone. 

“Well, Bee and the other Autobots have been taking care of me since my dad went missing, and they said it was alright.” she said, fiddling with her hands. Blitzwing lifted an optic ridge at that.

“What does  _ Bumblebee  _ of all mechs know about caring for a human sparkling?” he asked, his faceplate switching to Random, “He can barely take care of himself!” he added with his signature cackle. Sari laughed with him for a bit, but it didn’t last long before she stopped to answer his question.

“Well, they're the only family I have right now, and I don’t really know a lot of human grown ups.” Her voice held a hint of sorrow and Blitzwing realized he might've accidentally a raw nerve, but before he could second guess himself Sari continued. “But it’s all good!” She said, immediately perking up. “I prefer hanging out with the Autobots anyway.”

That last statement kind of confused Blitzwing.

“Why? Why not stay with your own kind?” From what he'd seen, people usually felt the most comfortable staying with individuals that were more like themselves. The fact that Sari would not only interact with a species other than her own, but actually  _ prefer  _ them made no sense. Humans and Cybertroninas had very little in common if you asked him, though he had a distinct feeling that if he said as much out loud Bumblebee would go off on a tangent about how that wasn’t true. His internal musings were interrupted when Sari chose to continue.

“Well, most people think I’m a weirdo.” Sari admitted. That answered just as many questions as it raised. Blitzwing scanned Sari from top to bottom, but found nothing that would hint as to why her own kind would deem her a 'weirdo'. She looked no different from any other human. Though Blitzwing would be the first to admit that he knew next to nothing when it came to humans. Other than Sari herself he'd only briefly spoken with professor Sumdac, but from what he could remember her speech patterns didn't seem that different either, so he was still a bit unsure as to how she'd incurred that label.

“Why?” He finally asked.

“I don’t know!” Sari cried, throwing up her arms. “People just think I’m weird, and I've never really had any friends." she said, "The only people I ever hung out with were the kids of my dad's coworkers, and they always thought I was weird!” Blitzwing just sat there for a moment processing what she'd said and looking out over the ice. He thought for a moment before responding.

“I suppose we have that in common then.” He wasn’t quite sure why he'd even said that, but it was too late to take it back now. Sari seemed just as caught off guard as he was by his sudden confession, but she recovered quickly. 

“I’m sorry.” She said softly, and reached up to put her hand on his plating. He jerked away from the contact, making it clear that he still wasn’t okay with her, an organic, touching him, but to his surprise Sari didn't push the issue and instead let her hand fall in her lap.

“People call you a weirdo?” That earned her a snort from the con.

“I think 'weirdo' would be putting it mildly. Deranged, unhinged, psychotic, I can't think of many things I haven't been called.” He explained “I’m sure you've heard some of your Autobot friends speak of me that way.” Sari immediately looked down and didn’t respond, but her continued silence spoke for itself. The rest of the Autobots had most definitely used some rather creative adjectives when they went to describe him. Sari was quiet for a moment longer before looking up again.

“You know my dad used to tell me that it's not inherently bad to be weird. A lot of great people were thought to be weird or crazy. Like the Wright brothers! Everyone thought they were crazy people, but they were really geniuses!” She finished with a smile.

Blitzwing had no idea who these “Wright brothers” were, and to be honest he didn't care enough to ask for clarification, but by the way she'd said it he guessed she was trying to comfort him. Which was nice… He guessed?

Their conversation had just started to die down when Sari spoke again.

“It’s a lot of fun living with the Autobots, but sometimes I really miss my dad. ” 

Blitzwing wasn’t sure what this was, but that last admittance made him feel... Icky. He didn’t like being reminded that Bumblebee's best human friend was separated from her creator. The fact that she remained ignorant of his true whereabouts while he himself sat on that specific knowledge, wasn’t a position he particularly liked being in.

Blitzwing had already decided that he'd never give so much as a hint that Sumdac was currently Megatron's prisoner. That was top secret Decepticon intel. And besides, even if he did crack and admit that he knew where the professor was, it’s not like he was prepared to reveal the location of the Decepticon base. He was also not about to become a traitor to the cause by rescuing Sari's creator himself. There was nothing that any of them could do about the situation and the only thing that telling them would accomplish would be causing them undue worry .

But he did feel  _ something _ when he looked at her sad expression; at the fact that her eyes misted over whenever her creator was brought up. He guessed he was just spending too much time with Bumblebee because never would he have felt sympathy for a human before. But even more odd was the fact that when he looked at her grief he felt something closer to  _ empathy _ .

“That is understandable,” He started somewhat uneasily, “Being… _ separated  _ from your family can be- it can be difficult.” Sari nodded.

“Yeah, but thankfully I've got the rest of the guys looking after me, so at least I’m not alone! That would really suck.” She said, perking up. 

Blitzwing went quiet as her words washed over him, he didn’t really know  _ why _ , but her words just seemed to stick inside his processor.

_’Well, it's a good thing that this_ ** _organic_** _wasn't left alone when_ ** _her_** **_family_** _was taken from her.’_ he thought bitterly. He didn’t know why, but somehow her words had managed to light up an unfamiliar bitterness inside of him. It honestly just kind of confused him, why had a half thought out sentence upset him?

He quickly pushed those feelings down and chalked them up as the result of his poor recharge schedule. He must just be tired, that was all.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he noticed Bumblebee was skating towards them.

“Whatcha doing?” He asked once he was in earshot. 

“Just taking a break!” Sari answered and moved to push herself up. “But I’m ready to go back now!” She then walked back onto the ice and skated next to Bumblebee. But before they went any further, she paused and looked over her shoulder.

“Aren't you coming?” She asked. Blitzwing simply shook his helm.

“I’m fine where I am.” Sari pouted for a moment, but suddenly Bumblebee was leaning down and whispering something in her ear. Blitzwing lifted an optic ridge just as they both let out an ominous chuckle. 

“What?” He asked coldly. The two of them just stared back at him with stupid grins plastered across their faces.

“Ohhh it’s nothing.” Bumblebee responded cheekily. “I just told Sari you didn’t want to skate because you're a total chicken!” Blitzwing still didn’t quite know what a “chicken” was, but he certainly remembered that it was an insult. His faceplate switched to Hothead with a growl.

“I am not.” He snarled, his threatening tone proved to be ineffective because all they did was giggle.

“Oh, you're such a chicken!” Bumblebee said with a smirk “You’re just a big chicken that's scared of gliding around on some ice!”

Sari laughed with him before moving her arms and making some strange noises that Blitzwing could only assume was her attempt to imitate this so-called, 'chicken'. At this point he was sufficiently fed up with their mockery and stood up.

“I’ll show you chicken!” He yelled.

As soon as he did, both Sari and Bumblebee giggled and skated off in different directions. Blitzwing didn’t give it another thought before taking off after them. He quickly decided to go after Bumblebee, since he'd been the one who'd started it.

Catching up to him wasn’t hard. Blitzwing might have never 'skated', but he was still better than most when it came to moving on top of ice. When one of your primary tactics is to freeze the ground under your opponents feet you learn fast.

When he did catch up to Bumblebee, he ended up stopping right next to the minibot before giving him a light push.

But because of the sheer velocity Bumblebee had already been traveling at, the slight nudge sent him sliding across the ice for several meters despite his frenzied attempts to catch himself, before falling down onto the ground. When he finally did come to a halt, his first instinct was to get up. Unfortunately, Blitzwing had already moved next to him and everytime Bumblebee was just about to heave himself up Random would knock his arms or his legs out from under him. Every time he did that he'd have to go through all the motions again. As if standing on the slippery ice wasn’t hard enough already!

“Would you cut it out!” Bumblebee hissed after what was probably the fifth push. Blitzwing just laughed at him, but he seemed to finally take mercy on the minibot; because after, that he skated off.

* * *

Bumblebee really hated to admit it, but Blitzwing was almost stupidly good at this whole ice skating thing. Seeing as Blitzwing had given him some space (the fragger), he took the opportunity to finally push himself up. 

After he'd gotten back to his peds, he just stood there for a moment and watched as Blitzwing moved around on the ice. The triple changer was very clearly in his element, because he didn’t seem to be having the slightest problem keeping his balance. 

When Bumblebee made to go after him he also noticed that he was much slower than the big con. However, as soon as Blitzwing realized he was trying to catch up he curtailed his own speed so they could stay next to each other.

Bumblebee shot him a well earned glare once he was close enough, but Blitzwing just giggled at his annoyance. Eventually, Icy reamerged and held out his servo as a peace offering. 

Bumblebee looked at it for barely a second before taking it in his own. They moved in sync after that, their servos clasped firmly. They only stopped for a moment when Blitzwing led him into a sudden spin that almost had Bumblebee falling over. As he was trying to regain his balance he noticed the cons lips pulling into a smirk. Bumblebee just scowled at him.

Blitzwing observed his sour expression for a moment longer before something over Bumblebee's shoulder caused his expression to go from smug to somewhat bothered.

“Human.” He called out. At that Bumblebee turned around and tried to see what had made Blitzwing look nervous, but all he saw was Sari skating further away from them. Though, he did note that she was getting uncomfortably close to the edge of the ice. “Human!” Blitzwing shouted, sounding more urgent. Sari turned her head, but didn’t stop her chosen path. 

“What?!” She yelled back.

“The ice gets thinner the closer to the edge you are!” Blitzwing warned, Sari just turned and looked towards the outer fringes of the ice but it was a fair bit away so she didn’t seem particularly bothered.

“I'll be fine, I’m not that close! Besides, I'm much lighter than you are!” Her clear dismissal had Blitzwing switching back to Hothead with an aggravated huff.

“Suit yourself.” He muttered.

Bumblebee looked between the two of them and before long he started feeling uneasy. Sure, Sari might weigh far less than either of them, but if she kept going that way she'd eventually hit a spot thin enough to break under someone even of her size, and Bumblebee would really rather not risk it.

“Sari, why don’t you come back over to us!” Bumblebee shouted, but Sari just seemed to be getting annoyed.

“Oh, don’t be such a worry war-” She never finished that sentence because at that exact moment a loud 'crack' sounded from underneath her. She stopped for a moment just stared down uncomprehendingly at her own feet. Bumblebee followed her gaze and with a sinking feeling of dread he realized that he could see cracks forming all around her. The ice was about to give out.

When Sari looked back up he could see by her worried expression that she'd come to the same conclusion.

“Bee-” Whatever else she might've said was lost because with a final “crack!” the ice gave out. She barely had time to scream before she vanished under the ice with a loud splash.

Bumblebee could only describe what he felt as 'abject horror' when he saw Sari disappear under the surface.

“Sari!” He yelled as he took off running towards the hole in the ice. However he was almost immediately jerked back by a firm grip on his arm. He spun around quickly to see what had grabbed him and was met with Blitzwing's faceplate.

“Let me go!” Bumblebee yelled, as he tried to pull out of Blitzwing's grasp. “I have to save her!”.

“You can’t!” Blitzwing shouted back. “If you go out there you’ll just sink to the bottom of the lake! The cold will cause your system to shut down because you even get close to her!” He said, trying to make Bumblebee understand the danger. “There's nothing you can do!” Bumblebee suddenly turned around with one of the most serious expressions Bumblebee had ever shown the triple changer. 

“I won’t leave her!” He shouted, before roughly yanking his arm out of his grasp and taking off running.

“Bumblebee wait! Stop!” He heard Blitzwing yelling from behind him, but he didn’t listen. All he could think about at the moment was Sari as he sprinted toward the spot where she'd fallen through. He'd barely made it half way when he heard another series of cracks and the ice underneath him gave way.

The cold hit him like a punch to the face, It was absolutely freezing, and almost immediately his HUD was filled with warnings of imminent system failure. Bumblebee resolutely deleted the messages, he didn’t care for his own safety, and as he slowly sank to the bottom he tried to see if he could make out the slightest hint of Sari's form.

It was pitch black under the water and no matter how he tried he couldn't see further than a meter in front of him. 

“Sari!” He yelled, his words turning into a ploom of bubbles that quickly escaped to the surface. He could feel that his frame's core temperature was dropping at an alarming rate, and with dread he realized that his joints were becoming painful to move and starting to lock up. Also, as he continued to sink there was even less light, making it so that at some point he was surrounded from all sides by darkness.

Suddenly, the current shifted as something large landed in the water above him.

Bumblebee had to use a worrying amount of effort to turn around, and when he did he was met with a red visor. It was difficult to discern anything in the dark water, but from what he could tell, Blitzwing's expression was grim.

Bumblebee barely had time to register what was happening before Blitzwing grabbed his arm and activated his thrusters. Causing them to start rising back to the surface.

“No!” Bumblebee yelled, as he started desperately trying to break loose. However, this time Blitzwing had a much better hold, and as soon as he felt Bumblebee starting to struggle he tightened his grip. Making it impossible for Bumblebee to break free no matter how much he thrashed. 

They broke the water's surface with a spray of ice, and with Bumblebee's arm still in his grasp, Blitzwing reeled him back and sent him sailing clear across the ice and in the direction of the beach. Bumblebee tried to dig in his digits to stop himself, but that proved to be impossible as he realized there was nothing to hold on to.

He had just barely come to a full stop when he started struggling to his knees. His plating was rattling from the cold, but he didn't even notice it; Instead, he turned the brunt of his anger toward the triple changer, and started screaming at him. 

“Blitzwing! Why would you do that?!" He cried, "She's still down there! I have to-”

But Blitzwing didn’t hear whatever else the minibot might've shouted, because he immediately turned on his heel and made his way back towards the hole in the ice. The ice, having lost any stability it might've otherwise had, quickly buckled under his weight and he fell through

Bumblebee could only watch in horror as Blitzwing disappeared beneath the surface. 

Bumblebee wasn't sure what he was feeling as he looked at the spot where his two companions had vanished. The atmosphere had gone deathly silent as he sat there alone on the ice. All he could hear was the howling of the wind through the trees and the uncontrollable rattling of his own plating.

One second went by, then two, then three, four, five- and suddenly, with a burst of motion Blitzwing shot out of the water. He flew forward for a couple of meters before making his landing next to Bumblebee.

He was completely soaked. Water kept dripping out of the seams in his armor and Bumblebee could see that he was slightly shaking. However Blitzwing didn’t seem to notice his own condition as he gave his full attention to his cupped servos. He held them close to his faceplate, and after taking a shuddering breath, he exhaled hot air into the space between his digits. He did that twice more before he then opened them and Bumblebee could see that Sari was stored inside. She was wet, shivering and was still coughing up water, but most importantly she was alive.

Seeing that Bumblebee now understood that his friend was safe, Blitzwing transferred Sari to one servo and grabbed Bumblebee around the waist with the other. He then started determinedly making his way back to the shore; grumbling the whole way. 

Once he'd finally reached solid ground, he lowered Bumblebee onto the sand, and was surprisingly gentle as he handed Sari over to him.

He then turned his back to them and headed towards the tree line, uprooting several of the closest trees and throwing them into a pile on the beach. He then lowered his cannons and set the wood ablaze, creating a huge bonfire. The fire spreading warmth and light all around them.

The warmth of the fire was a welcome relief from the icy chill, but Bumblebee didn't have time to appreciate it as he began frantically checking over Sari.

“Sari! Are you okay?!” She was shivering terribly, her lips were blue and her clothes were completely soaked, but she did give him a small smile and weak thumbs up.

“Yeah, I'm alright. Just a bit cold and wet.” She said, hugging herself in an attempt to gain back some warmth. Bumblebee was quick to help her out of her wet winter jacket, but it didn’t help much considering her shirt was in much the same state. 

It wasn't long after that, that Blitzwing joined them. He sat down on the other side of the bonfire, but even after a few minutes had passed he still remained silent.

Bumblebee meanwhile, had shifted both Sari and her jacked as close to the fire as possible without risking them catching on fire themselves; hoping that if he could get her warm and dry he could save her from getting hypothermia.

When Sari finally looked up from warming her hands, she realized that Bumblebee was still shaking pretty badly himself, so she offered the allspark key that was still miraculously hanging around her neck.

“Do you need a pick me up?” She asked. Bumblebee didn’t hesitate for a second and nodded rapidly as he leaned down so she could reach. She quickly inserted the key, and as she twisted it, the area was filled with a sudden burst of white light. 

As the light receded Bumblebee was left feeling immensely better. All the warning messages that had been flooding his HUD had vanished and with a sigh he relaxed his stiff posture. With that taken care of, Sari then turned her attention to Blitzwing.

“Do you want me to help you to?” She asked, holding up her key so he could see it. Blitzwing didn’t answer and instead just shot daggers in Bumblebee's direction. Sari hunched a bit from his intense gaze and leaned towards Bumblebee as she whispered, “Do you think he’s mad at us?”

Bumblebee studied Blitzwing's faceplate for a moment, and it didn’t take long for him to realize that Blitzwing was  _ livid _ . He didn't think he'd seen him look that mad since that time he'd tried to climb the electrified during their time on Master Disasters show. The intensity of his expression was starting to make him feel uneasy and he can feel there was about to be an argument.

“Just stay here for a minute.” He told Sari, as he got up and walked around the bonfire as he made his way to Blitzwing.

They just stood there in silence for a moment as Blitzwing angrily observed him through his visor. Bumblebee was starting to feel seriously uncomfortable the longer Blitzwing stayed silent and that grim expression on his red faceplate didn’t help matters.

Another heated moment passed by before Blitzwing switched to icy and acknowledged him.

“Are you out of your Primus damned processor?” He asked, voice dark and filled with a cold rage. Bumblebee just crossed his arms over his chest.

“I had to save her.” He said unapologetically, “That’s what heros do.”

“You could have gone  _ offline _ .” Blitzwing hissed, 

“Yeah, but I  _ didn't _ ,” Bumblebee argued, and that was finally enough to drag Hothead back out.

“You would have if I hadn't been here!” He shouted, slamming his fist into the ground “If I'd gotten there a moment later you might’ve gone offline!” 

“You don’t know that!" Bumblebee shouted, "And anyway you  _ were _ there, so what does it matter?!”

“It matters because what if I  _ hadn’t _ ? I can't always be there no matter how much I want that to be! I can't always save you!” 

“But you  _ were  _ here, and you  _ did _ save me!” Bumblebee yelled, only making Blitzwing angrier. 

“You can’t always risk your own life to save others! You have to think about your own safety as well!”

“A good hero saves people despite the risks!” Bumblebee insisted.

“Having self preservation doesn't make you less of a hero, it just makes you less of a complete moron!" Blitzwing yelled back "And what you did was utterly idiotic! Your systems could have entered complete shut down before you even came close to saving her! You could have gone _offline_ don’t you understand that?!" His last sentence rang out in the otherwise silent forest, the sound echoing through the trees and over the now still water. The words seemed to burn the air between them and for a moment neither of them had anything to say. 

After his initial outburst Blitzwing hid his faceplate in his servos; breathing heavily as he tried to calm down. 

Bumblebee for once, didn’t say anything and just gave Blitzwing a moment to collect himself. Eventually, the triple changer let out a shaky exhale as he recovered enough to lift his helm out of his servos. 

“I'm- I'm sorry for lashing out, it's just…” The words died on his glossa as he seemed to get lost in his own processor. Almost as if he were having trouble finding the right words to articulate how he felt. “I just... I love you with all my spark and- and I can't-” Blitzwing groaned as he got increasingly frustrated at himself. Finally he let out a deep sigh and with a visceral expression of hurt he admitted, “I just can't bear to lose you too”. 

His voice was sorrowful as he grieved for what he'd almost lost, and it was that grief that hit Bumblebee right in the spark.

As soon as he realised what Blitzwing was trying to say, his spark squirmed in sympathetic pain. Blitzwing wasn’t just upset that he'd risked his life, he'd been genuinely terrified that he was about to lose the only person he had left. Blitzwing had weathered who knew how many years of solitude before Bumblebee had come along, and just now he’d been forced to watch as he believed his last connection was going to be taken away from him as well.

Bumblebee dropped his defensive stance and gripped Blitzwing's servos.

“C’mon Blitzy, you're not gonna get rid of me that easy!" Bumblebee said in a light playful tone, "I’m still alive! And well, look-” Bumblebee said, manipulating Blitzwing servos so that l they were he was cupping his faceplate. “See?" he asked with a soft smile, "I’m just fine! I’m not going to go offline  _ that _ easily, I’m tougher than I look! So don’t you worry!" Blitzwing's mouth curved into a weak smile. He then leaned forward and planted a kiss on the minibot's helm before enveloping him tight into a hug.

“Thank you.” He whispered softly as he held Bumblebee's smaller frame against his own.

Bumblebee just closed his optics and leaned into Blitzwing’s embrace. He could feel that the triple changer was still a bit colder than was usual and occasionally his frame would give a subtle shiver; more likely, from the scare he'd received than from any lingering cold.

“I’m really sorry that I worried you." Bumblebee said softly, "I guess jumping into that lake without a plan wasn’t that great of an idea.” He heard a whirr of sound from above as icy took back control. 

“Don’t be." He said, "I apologize for getting angry at you. It was wrong of me.” He finished just as he switched again, this time to Random. “I guess I should've expected it, since you're an Autobot and doing idiotic stuff is just in your programming!”

“Hey!” Bumblebee yelled, wriggling out of the hug just far enough to give him a half hearted scowl.

Their soft moment was suddenly interrupted by a loud sneeze. Bumblebee turned around and saw Sari sitting by the fire, and remembered that she was still in her wet clothes. Bumblebee let out a sigh.

“I've got to get her home before she catches a cold.” He said, causing Blitzwing to switch back to Icy and lift an optic ridge.

“But, she’s already cold.” That earned him snort from Bumblebee.

“Not that kind of cold,” He explained with a grin, “It’s also the name of a human disease.” Blitzwing’s expression quickly turned to one of disgust, but Bumblebee chose to ignore it as he started walking back towards Sari.

She looked up once she noticed him getting closer. 

“Can we go home now?” She asked, "I'd really like to change out of these wet clothes." Bumblebee gave her a nod.

“Just take off your skates first.” He said, bending down to grab her jacket off the ground and then walking over to retrieve her duffel bag.

The fire was soon extinguished when Blitzwing lowered his cannons and froze the entire thing solid, plunging the area into darkness.

Sari meanwhile had started putting on her boots, which were the only part of her ensemble that had remained dry. She then put her skates in the bag with her other things, so Bumblebee could store them in his subspace.

“How are we going to explain this to the others?” She asked Bumblebee and gestured to her soaked clothing.

“Let’s just hope they're recharging by the time we get back, and then we'll never speak a word about this to anyone.” Bumblebee responded.

“You could always blame it on me!” They both turned at the sudden interruption, and saw Blitzwing “When you were out a big, bad Decepticon thought you looked dirty and gave you a bath!” He followed that with a cackling laugh. Sari smiled at his antics, but she ended up sneezing again and Blitzwing took a noticeable step back.

Disregarding the both of them, Bumblebee had already transformed and offered his door to Sari. She was just about to jump in, but she suddenly remembered something and turned back.

“Hey!” She said, getting Blitzwing's attention “Thanks for saving me, I should've listened to you about the ice and I'm sorry.” Blitzwing's faceplate switched back to Icy with an audible whirr, and he gave her a stiff nod in acknowledgement, but said nothing more. However, soon after his stoic acceptance of her apology, Random made a reappearance.

“Just keep an optic on this one.” Blitzwing said, petting the roof of Bumblebees alt mode. “Make sure he doesn't do anything  _ too _ stupid while I’m not around, kay?” He added with a snicker.

“Oh, shove it up your exhaust pipe Blitzbrain!” Bumblebee growled, but Sari smiled and gave him a small salute.

“Sir yes sir! Will do!” She shouted, making Bumblebee let out a huff.

“You better jump in fast, or you're walking home!” He said, sounding very put out, but everyone knew it was an empty threat.

* * *

Blitzwing returned to base fairly quickly, and was just starting the long trek towards his room when he heard the distinct sounds of typing coming from the main area. He stopped by the entrance of the main hub and looked in. He didn’t see any sign of his fellow Decepticons, but he did see that their sole captive was still awake and typing out schematics for the space bridge. It was fairly late at this point and Blitzwing knew there were only a few hours left before day break, so Sumdac must have been working for some time.

Blitzwing slowly left his place by the entrance and walked closer. It took him a moment, but eventually Sumdac must have heard him coming, because he quite suddenly stopped typing and turned around. 

Once he did Blitzwing locked optics with him. He still wasn’t very good at recognizing human expressions, but from what he could tell, the man seemed to be exhausted, Blitzwing couldn't remember when the organic had last taken a break, and it most  _ certainly _ wasn’t  _ his _ job to take care of him, but the longer he kept eye contact the more and more and more signs of fatigue he noticed. Almost without thinking, he asked,

“Is something wrong?” He felt somewhat unsure if he should've voiced that question out loud; after all, Sumdac was much different than Sari. Sari had almost completely rid herself of the fear she used to have for him, but Sumdac was still quite obviously distressed at being put under Blitzwing's scrutiny. After a short moment with no response Blitzwing simply shook his helm and began to leave.

“No.” He'd just started walking away when that single word stopped in his tracks. He stood there for a moment, feeling frozen; before he worked up the courage to respond.

“You should take a break anyway, it looks like you need it.” And without waiting for a response, he quickly retreated to his quarters. 


	8. The text

By some _miracle_ they'd been able to keep their little ice skating adventure a secret. No one had been around when they'd eventually returned to base, so they'd been able to sneak back to their rooms without anyone being the wiser. 

Unfortunately Sari hadn't been so lucky as to escape the physical consequences, and by the next day, she was well in the clutches of a nasty cold. The sounds of her coughing and sneezing were commonplace for the next few days, but it was workable, and as the week went her symptoms slowly started to fade.

Eventually, the base's stockpile of cough syrup and chicken soup became depleted, and since Sari was already starting to feel better, she and Bumblebee decided to make a short supply run. 

They currently were walking through downtown; occasionally, stopping to look through shop windows or even buy something before moving on. They'd originally planned to _drive_ to centrum, but the streets had been so congested with traffic that they'd both decided it would be faster to just walk on foot. Much to Bumblebee's annoyance.

“Okay, I think the only thing we have left to pick up is that new paint for Bulkhead and then we’ll be done!” Sari said, her voice still a bit hoarse as she looked over the shopping list on Bumblebee's datapad. She would've normally written it down on her phone, but for _some_ _reason_ it was broken. Bumblebee had promised he'd buy her a new one as soon as his salary arrived, but until then they were forced to share his datapad. 

“Right, so that’s what, 10 minutes away?” Bumblebee asked, as they continued walking down the sidewalk.

Sari gave him a nod, but after only about 3 minutes had passed, Bumblebee's HUD lit up with an alert.

He immediately stopped his stride, at first confused as to what could have prompted the massage, but eventually his optics widened and he began frantically searching the area. Sari, having noticed his odd behaviour, stopped with him and cocked her head to the side in confusion.

“What’s up?” She asked,

“There’s an allspark fragment nearby." He said, as he tried to see if his HUD could give him a more accurate read on where it was located, so he wouldn't have to search the entire street for one tiny rock. Eventually, it was able to zero in on its position. It was right across the street and about… 120 meters in the air?!

Bumblebee turned his focus to the street across from them and noticed that there was a giant building being constructed on the other side. A large part of it consisted of a large metal frame held together by steel rods, but it looked like at least a few of the walls had been finished and he could see that a couple of floors appeared to be accessible.

Bumblebee strained his optics in an attempt to see if he could get a better idea of where the fragment was, but it was much too high. The roof appeared to be finished, so there was a good chance it had ended up there somewhere. 

Bumblebee looked back at Sari and pointed to the half finished skyscraper. 

“It’s up there,” He said. Sari gave him a big smile and grabbed his servo.

“Well, then what are we waiting for?! Let’s go get it!” She yelled excitedly.

She looked both ways before she dragged Bumblebee across the street, and then they both ran towards the construction project.

They looked around the base of the building for a bit and soon they were able to find an elevator that led all the way to the top. It was, of course, not in working order but both of them knew that that could quickly be changed with a turn of Sari's key. Unfortunately, the plan to take the elevator to the top was quickly ruled out when they realised Bumblebee’s weight would greatly exceed the limits of what it could carry, so Sari and Bumblebee left looking at it with a sour expression.

“Great, how will we get up now?” Sari huffed as she crossed her arms, but her expression quickly lightened up when she got an idea. “Hey, what if I just went up and got it!” Bumblebee immediately shook his helm. He’d already had enough of a scare during their skating fiasco, he wasn't about to put Sari in another dangerous situation.

“No way! This is an active building project, there might be loose bolts or pieces that could fall off. No, I think it would best if you stay here and I go get it.” Sari gave him a confused look.

“But how? You won't be able to take the elevator.” Bumblebee put his chin in his servo and just observed the tall building. Most of it was still made up of iron framework, and with a feeling of dread he realized what he'd have to do. 

“I guess I’ll just climb.” he said with a nervous swallow. 

“What!?” Sari shouted, sounding like she liked the plan just as much as Bumblebee. Still, regardless of the method, the fragment had to be retrieved so Bumblebee just gave her a self assured grin.

“I’ll be fine!" He said, feigning confidence. "I'll have the fragment and be back down before you know it!" Sari gave him a doubtful look, but he'd already started walking towards the metal frame. He grabbed onto one of the exposed pieces of rebar and shook it to test how sturdy it was. The metal held firm and he nodded to himself, _‘Yeah this'll definitely be able to support my weight.’_ He thought before turning back to Sari who was still watching him with a worried expression. 

“Just stay here and wait for me! I’ll be back in a sec!” He said, giving her a confident thumbs up. He then stepped onto the first rebar and started to climb.

It didn't take long before he felt the wind start blowing and soon it felt as if the entire scaffolding was swaying along with it. He tightened his grip on the metal rods as he climbed higher, and kept up a steady mantra of: _‘Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down.'_ Knowing that if he let his curiosity get the better of him and he did look down, it would only make this whole experience _so much_ worse.

Thankfully, he did eventually reach the top without losing his grip, and with a bit of scrambling, he hefted himself onto the roof. He sat there on his knees for a moment pulling air into his overheated vents, and feeling almost stupidly happy about not dangling off the side of a building anymore.

After giving himself a moment to recover, He stood back up and started looking around. The wind was just as strong as it'd been on the way up, and the rooftop had yet to have any railing installed, so he had to be especially careful not to fall off the sides. There was also construction material littered all over the place, and Bumblebee almost tripped over it more than once as he searched for a familiar blue glow. After a few minutes of rummaging around the work site, he finally saw it, it was sitting right in the middle of an open toolbox.

He immediately walked over and plucked it out with two digits. It was actually quite tiny for a fragment. He thought as he inspected the sliver of allspark. That was probably why no one had stopped to retrieve it earlier, the signal simply hadn't been strong enough to be picked up unless you were right next to it.

As soon as he picked it up he could tell that this fragment was the real deal. He looked down at it with a wide grin and started imagining how the other would react when he came back from running errands with an allspark fragment! Man, it was gonna be so great! ...Although, there was still the little problem of how he was going to climb all the way back down. Bumblebee walked back to the edge, and without thinking, made the grave mistake of looking down. 

Primus! Everything looked so tiny from up here! The cars might as well have been toy cars and he could just barely make out Sari as a little pink dot right below him.

He immediately took a step away back, silently cursing himself for doing the one thing he'd repeatedly told himself not to do.

Bumblebee wouldn’t classify himself as someone who was afraid of heights, but being over 100 meters up in the air would probably make most people at least a little bit nervous.

He just stood there for a moment. Trying to hype himself up for the climb down, when he heard it. The sound of a jet engine. 

He didn't pay much attention to it at first, they lived in Detroit afterall. Aircrafts weren’t exactly uncommon. But the longer he stood there, the louder it seemed to get, and it didn’t take long before he started feeling uneasy enough to finally investigate the noise.

 _‘Huh,'_ he thought, as he watched the plane speed towards him. _'That's kind of a weird colour scheme for a human-’_ That’s about when he realised that what he was seeing _definitely_ wasn’t a normal human aircraft.

He immediately transformed one of his stingers, and carefully holding the fragment in the other, he pointed it up towards the incoming jet. It was only about 10 meters above him when it transformed into the recognisable silhouette of Starscream.

The former second in command looked down at him with a smirk.

“Well, well, if it isn’t a little minibot all on his own.” He said, malice dancing at the edge of his voice “What are you doing all the way up here? Are you stuck?” He asked, with a chuckle. Bumblebee just glared at him.

“I could ask the same thing, what are _you_ doing here? Hiding from Megatron again?” he responded mockingly. Starscream's optics narrowed at his retort, but Bumblebee just grinned harder, knowing that he must've hit a nerve.. 

Now thoroughly irritated, Starscream began scrutinizing him, likely trying to figure out what he was doing all the way up here. It didn't take before his optics zeroed in on the blue glow peeking out from between Bumblebee's digits.

Bumblebee noticed this and quickly hid the fragment behind his back, but by then it was already too late. Starscream seemed amused by his poor attempt at hiding the fragment. 

“Now, what've you got there Autobot?” he asked with a sneer.

“Wouldn't you like to know metal head!” Bumblebee shouted back. After that exchange Starscream finally decided to come in for a landing. The entire roof shook under his weight, and with a few unhurried steps, he stood right in front of the minibot. With the much taller seeker looming over him, Bumblebee suddenly felt very small, but regardless of their apparent height difference he still kept his stinger trained on the Decepticon. It might not be able to do much but Bumblebee would be damned if he let Starscream take the fragment from him without a fight. Starscream just frowned at his feeble attempt at resistance and held out a servo, gesturing for him to hand it over. 

“Enough games!" He shouted, "Give me the fragment, and I _might_ let you live” Bumblebee rolled his optics.

“What an offer!” He said sarcastically, “That ‘ _might let me live’_ part is really selling it for me!” 

“Very well then, we'll just do this the hard way.” Starscream growled, as he readied his null ray and fired a shot that had Bumblebee scrambling. As soon as he'd dodged the blast Bumblebee immediately turned to return fire, but just as he'd feared, his electricity only bounced off the Decepticon's thick plating.

Well, if nothing else that at least solidified for him that it was time to call for backup, and after ducking out of the way of another blast he activated his comms. “Hey, guys!”

Ratchet was the first to answer, probably having noticed the slight note of panic in his voice.

“What did you do now?” he grumbled.

“You wanna hear the good news first or the bad news first?” Bumblebee said, the sounds of chaos in the background almost overpowering his voice.

“The Good news, please.” He heard Bulkhead chime in.

“Well, while I was out I found an allspark fragment! So, that's pretty good!” He said just as he was forced to throw himself to the ground to avoid another potshot from Starscream.

“And the bad news?” He heard Optimus ask.

“Unfortunately, Starscream found me.” he explained, “So if you guys could come help me out that would be _great_!” Just as he said that, he grabbed one of the many tool boxes laying around and threw it right in Starscream's faceplate. The mech let out a short yelp of pain, but it was immediately followed by an angry growl as he started chasing after the minibot with murder in his optics.

Optimus response was immediate.

“We're on our way, just try to hold out until we get there” 

“I’ll do my bes- ahhh!,” Bumblebee yelped as he just barely ducked a swipe of Starscreams claws. 

* * *

Sari meanwhile, was watching the rooftop fight with increasing worry. Bumblebee was all alone up there with _Starscream_! those weren't the greatest odds. 

Sari had sent a message to Bulkhead about the situation, but he'd told her that Bee had already called them and they were on their way. Unfortunately, the traffic from earlier still hadn't cleared up and in some places it was completely deadlocked. 

Sari honestly wasn’t sure how long Bumblebee would be able to hold off Starscream. One wrong move and Bumblebee could end up shot, or even worse, he might fall off the edge.

Sari could feel her heart beating faster and faster the longer she waited for the others to show up, and before long she realized it was up to her to figure out some way to help. She could still take the elevator up, but what help would she be up there? If anything she might just make the situation worse since Bumblebee would then be forced to protect both her and himself.

Sari drummed her fingers anxiously against the datapad she still held after contacting Bulkhead. Suddenly, an idea hit her. She looked down at the datapad and immediately started scrolling through the contacts. As soon as she landed on the contact ‘Neapolitan ice cream’ she opened up the text log.

Their latest conversation had been sometime yesterday evening and it only consisted of Blitzwing saying ‘good night love’ first and then Bumblebee responding ‘Night! <3’

Sari ignored their previous texts and quickly started typing out a message of her own.

* * *

Currently, Blitzwing was helping with the space bridge construction and for the most part it was just like any other day. Well, any day that wasn’t his weekly meeting with Bumblebee at least. Wake up, refuel, work, refuel break, work, and then it either ended with him being sent off to patrol or he went straight to his quarters. It was all pretty monotonous to say the least.

He'd been told by Mixmaster to hold up a piece of sheet metal so it could be soldered to the main framework they were working on. They were nearly done when he felt his datapad start to vibrate. He was honestly a little caught off guard. What other Decepticon would be contacting him right now? He was pretty sure all of the earth based Decepticons were already here working, and if it were Megatron that wanted him, he could just as easily comm him or even just walk a few meters and talk faceplate to faceplate. But that meant that the only one left who could be texting him was Bumblebee. 

It was unusual that either of them would be calling this early. It was far from the time they'd both set aside for private chats and neither was it time for their good night texts so Blitzwing really wasn't sure what this message could possibly be about.

Concluding that it was probably just a fluke, he chose to ignore it. He could always sneak away during his break and read what it said, but right now he was busy. He'd almost succeeded in putting it out of his mind when he felt the second buzz. Okay… Well, that was a bit weird, but it was still probably nothing to worry about. Bumblebee was probably just excited about some new video game he was playing and wanted to talk about it. 

Then came the third text, and a forth, fifth, sixth- the datapad just kept buzzing, the messages were incoming in so quickly that at some point it wouldn't stop vibrating. 

Blitzwing waited until Mixmaster had welded just enough of the metal together so it wouldn't fall apart, before he let go.

He then quickly made his way to the back where all the construction materials were kept and swiftly brought out his data pad. His first instinct was to silence the thing so it's continued vibration wouldn’t make him look suspicious. He then pretended to be busy documenting the various materials, as he brought up the messages app. Sure enough, there was Bumblebee's screen name. He opened up their chat log and immediately he was swarmed by a flood of messages.

‘Blitzwing I need to talk to you!’ Was the first coherent message, followed closely by ‘Blitzwing write back!’ but after that it was just...

‘Blitzwing’

‘Blitzwing’

‘Blitz’

‘Blitz’

‘Blitz’

‘Blitz’

‘B’

‘B’

‘B’

‘B’ and then it just continued on like that. New messages were still coming in, and after finally having enough Blitzwing switched to Hothead and wrote back angrily:

‘WHAT?!’ The rapid-fire messages stopped for a moment, but it didn’t take long for a new message to come through.

‘It’s Sari’ Well, that certainly answered who was contacting him during work hours, but now he was even more confused, and more than a little annoyed. Why did she have Bumblebees datapad, and more importantly, _why was she texting him?!_

‘THIS BETTER BE IMPORTANT’ He wrote back in angry, capital letters.

‘Bee's in danger!’ Blitzwing looked at the message and felt his spark drop. His faceplate switched back to Icy as he scrutinized the message.

‘This better not be a joke.’ The response was immediate.

“Not a joke! Bee really is in danger! He’s all alone fighting Starscream on top of some skyscraper, and the rest of the team is too far away to help! I don't know if he'll be able to hold out until they get here!’

Blitzwing quickly read the returned message, and at the mere mention of Starscream, he almost switched back to Hothead. Knowing he had little time to spare, he raised his digits to type out a reply. He was suddenly hit with an odd sense of unease, but he pushed it to the back of his processor as he wrote out ‘I'm coming’.

He then roughly shoved the datapad back into his subspace and began making his way towards the exit at a brisk pace. He didn’t get far before Lugnuts noticed him. 

“Where are you going?!” He shouted after him.

“I’m taking my break now." Blitzwing said, not even bothering to turn around.

“You're what?” He heard Scrapper pipe in, "But our break time isn't for another 2 hours!” Blitzwing didn't acknowledge him. He'd already created an alibi to account for his absence, there was no need to further explain himself. Ignoring their repeated calls for him to come back, he quickly exited the cave system and walked out into the open air. Now that he was away from prying optics, Blitzwing opened up his navigation system and zeroed in on the small blip that was Bumblebee's spark signature. Target acquired, he then quickly and transformed and blasted off at top speed.

Unfortunately, in his panicked rush to get to Bumblebee, he failed to notice that his departure hadn’t been nearly the smooth getaway he'd been hoping for. 

* * *

Bumblebee had been running circles around on the roof's for what felt like hours. He'd managed to avoid getting hit so far, but Starscream seemed to finally be getting fed up with the chase.

“Stand still Autobot scum!” He screeched, as he fired off another shot. Bumblebee quickly ducked out of the way and shot off a shot of his own. The bolt didn't even leave a mark as it glanced off Starscream's chest plate.

“What’s the problem Screamer?" He asked mockingly, "Not a good enough shot to hit a moving target?” Immediately after that remark, he was forced to leap forward to avoid Starscream's null rays. Unfortunately, his ped ended up tripping on one of the many loose rebar laying around and he ended tripping over it. He quickly tried to get up, but he was just a few seconds too slow.

Something violently grabbed one of his legs and a moment later he could feel clawed digits burying themselves into his plating. Bumblebee let out a quiet hiss of pain and when he looked over his shoulder he was met by Starscream's wickedly grinning faceplate.

Bumblebee immediately started kicking at the servo that held him with his still free leg and he heard Starscream hiss as he ground his heel over the Decepticon's digits.

His attempts to escape only seemed to make Starscream angrier as the seeker began dragging Bumblebee across the jagged concrete. Eventually, he made a sharp turn and Bumblebee felt the ground give way to open air. 

Despite his unwillingness to actually see his position, Bumblebee forced himself to look down, and saw he'd been suspended over the side of the skyscraper. He was looking straight down at the busy streets of Detroit, and the only thing stopping him from plummeting all 120 meters was Starscream's grip around his leg.

The harsh wind currents caused his frame to sway sickeningly, and Bumblebee felt his spark racing as he continued to hang limply in Starscream's grasp. 

He quickly averted his gaze from the ground below and instead turned his optics to the mech holding him over the edge.

Starscream seemed positively gleeful as he stared down at him.

“What’s this?” He asked with a smirk, “Aren’t you going to kick yourself free?” He shook the minibot for emphasis. Bumblebee could feel his spark skip a beat as he was jerked back and forth, and before he could get his bearings, Starscream shoved an open servo in his faceplate.

“Give me the fragment or I’ll drop you.” Despite the fear coursing still through his energon lines, Bumblebee mustered up courage to scowl up defiantly at the seeker.

“Fat chance!” He shouted, maybe if he could just stall for a little longer he'd be able to buy enough time for his team to show up. That’s the exact moment he felt Starscream let go of his ped.

Bumblebee barely had the time to scream before Starscream caught him again, but the terrifying experience left him trembling uncontrollably. 

“Whoops, I guess my servo slipped.” Starscream said, his tone conveying that it most definitely hasn't been an accident. “The fragment. _Now._ ” He demanded, but what Starscream had failed to take into account was just how stubborn Bumblebee could be.

“Over my dead body!” He snarled back, his mouth forming the syllables before he could process just how poor his choice of words was.

Starscream shrugged.

“That’s fine by me.” As he said that, Bumblebee could feel the talons starting to loosen their grip on his leg. Starscream took great pains to drag it out. One digit at first, and then another. He stared down at Bumblebee with a malicious smile as he watched the minibot panic over his impending demise. Bumblebee felt his spark pulsing painfully in it's chamber as he once again looked down at the busy streets below. 

His spark was beating so fast and so hard he could just barely hear the tell-tale sound of a jet engine. Bumblebee looked up, and he was just in time to see Blitzwing transformer out of his altmode and deliver a savage, midair drop kick to Starscream's flank.

Starscream immediately lost his grip, and both him and Bumblebee were sent flying off the edge.

Bumblebee let out a shrill scream as he started hurtling towards the ground, but before he'd fallen even a few meters, he felt something grab his ped. 

Bumblebee looked cautiously once he was sure he wasn't falling anymore, and was surprised to see Blitzwing. He was hanging half over the edge and had been just able to snag Bumblebee by his ankle.

“Please, don’t drop me!” Bumblebee yelled. He knew he really shouldn't be saying those types of things during 'work hours', but at the moment logic was vastly overruled by survival instinct. 

“I’m not going to.” Blitzwing reassured, and began dragging him back over the ledge. 

Bumblebee fell into a sitting position once he was back on solid ground. His spark was still pounding inside his chest and he couldn’t seem to stop shaking. The entire near death experience had left him feeling exhausted.

When he finally looked up, he could see that Blitzwing hadn't moved from where he was standing next to him and was watching him with concern filled optics. Bumblebee was honestly a little unsure about what they were supposed to do now. Attacking Blitzwing didn’t feel right after the triple changer had literally just saved his life, but what were they supposed to do now? 

Thankfully, Bumblebee didn’t have to think over it for long before Blitzwing gave him a wink. 

It took him a moment to puzzle out what he meant by that, but Bumblebee quickly realized that Blitzwing must not be here for 'work', and since neither of their teammates were here to witness them interacting there really was no need to fight each other. Bumblebee winked back to show he understood that it was okay for them to speak freely, and slouched into a more relaxed state. 

“Are you hurt?” Blitzwing asked, Bumblebee shook his helm, and slowly stood up, his legs still somewhat shaky.

“I’m alright, thanks for the save back there.” He said, before he suddenly realized something. “Wait a second. If you're not here on Decepticon business, then _why_ are you here?!” he asked, pointing an accusing digit at the triple changer.

“Sari.” He answered, the single word explaining it all.

“Huh,” Was Bumblebee’s less than stellar response. Blitzwing ignored him as he continued to look him over, but eventually gaze was stolen by something in Bumblebee's servo. 

Bumblebee curiously followed his gaze and realized Blitzwing had managed to catch sight of the allspark fragment. Even after everything that had happened he still held it in a death grip.

Bumblebee looked at it and then back up at Blitzwing, a distinct feeling of unease beginning to take hold.

“Do you need to take-” He never got to finish that sentence because Blitzwing abruptly cut him off with a shake of his helm.

“Hide it from my sight.” He said quietly, and turned his optics elsewhere. “I never saw you with it.” Not skipping a beat Bumblebee immediately shoved the fragment into his subspace. He then wiggled his digits in the air as if he'd just done a magic trick. Blitzwing rolled his optics at Bumblebee's theatrics, but his smile was distinctly fond. 

Their quiet moment was ruined however, when a loud screech filled the air.

“Who dares to attack-” They both turned towards the source of the noise and saw that Starscream had finally made his way back up to the roof top after Blitzwing had kicked him off. Whatever Starscream had been about to say would never be known because as soon as he laid his optics on Blitzwing a look of fear overtook his features. “Ahh Blitzwing, my-my old colleague. It’s so nice to see you!” He said, in a honeyed voice.

Blitzwing's faceplate quickly switched to Hothead and with a vicious snarl on his lips, he curled one of his servos into a fist and swiftly punched it into his palm. Starscream immediately held up his servos in surrender.

“H-hey now, there's no need for violence! Megatron isn’t here, so how about you just forget you saw me!” Blitzwing let him grovel for a moment, but as he did he took a menacing step forward.

“You’re right, there is no need.” He then switched over to Random with a cackle “But there is a desire for it!” He said, taking a few steps closer, and causing Starscream to distance himself from the roof. At that, Blitzwing's expression pulled into an exaggerated pout.

“Aww, what’s wrong screamer?” Blitzwing asked, malice dancing on the edge of his voice. “Don't want to pick on a mech _your own size_?” He ended his sentence with a truly frightening cackle.

“I'm sorry, but I've really got places to be!” Starscream barely had time to get the words out before he transformed and blasted off. Apparently, trying to get as much distance between himself and the triple changer as he possibly could.

“Ohh tag! I love this game!” Blitzwing said, clapping his servos. He gave Bumblebee one last fleeting look and blew him a kiss. Bumblebee responded to the gesture by pretending to catch it, making Blitzwing's already large grin grow even wider. Their goodbyes taken care of, Blitzwing then quickly transformed and shot off after Starscream.

“Screamer wait for me!” Was the last thing he heard Blitzwing say before he got well out of earshot.

Bumblebee followed the two fliers with his optics for as long as he could until they became small dots on the distance horizon and eventually disappeared. He let out a deep sigh of relief at finally being able to let his guard down, but his relaxing moment was ruined when his commlink sparked to life.

“Bumblebee do you copy?!” It was Optimus, he sounded pretty worried.

“Yeah, I copy.” Bumblebee said, and was answered by a sigh or relief from the other side.

“Thank Primus! We just saw Starscream and Blitzwing fly overhead and we were starting to fear the worst.” 

“You didn’t need to worry.” Bumblebee said with a grin, “I totally scared them off!” His cocky explanation was met by multiple groans and at least one tired sigh.

“Just try to meet up with us as quickly as you can, so we can take care of the fragment."

“Hear you loud and clear Boss bot! I'm on my way.” Bumblebee said, he then began the rather arduous process of climbing down. 

As he did, he got a somewhat weird feeling. And yeah, it would make sense that he'd feel a little uneasy climbing down from such a high place, but that wasn’t it. It almost felt like someone was… watching him? He shook it off. He was probably still just on high alert after his near death experience. Still, no matter how much he tried to pass the feeling off as nothing, it never quite went away.

* * *

He watched as the minibot made his slow descent to the ground. The clouds occasionally obscuring him from his line of sight. 

The sky was thick with this planet's condensed water vapor, and it had served as the perfect cover as he observed today's transgressions.

Everyone had been so focused on themselves that no one had even realised there had been a fourth mech watching, and he was far, _far_ from amused by what he had seen. The leader of the Decepticons' scowled one last time at the tiny yellow spek, before he transformed into his altmode, and headed in the direction of his base.


	9. No good deed goes unpunished

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains Graphic Depictions Of Violence. I have put XXX when it's starts and XXX once again when it ends in case you want to skip it. In the end notes I have put a short summary of what happens between the XXX so you can keep up with story incase you don't want to read those parts. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

By the time Blitzwing returned to the Decepticons' temporary base it was already dark outside. Blitzwing wasn't particularly worried though, as his lateness could easily be excused by his little run into Starscream, and it wasn’t all that unusual for him to get sidetracked and simply lose track of time. 

And Starscream had certainly lived up to his title as ex-air commander, as he led Blitzwing on a long and wild chase above the city. He'd flown after the traitor as fast and as long as he could, but in the end he'd been just a bit too slippery to catch. It was unfortunate, but not unexpected. When competing against the speed of a fully sparked seeker Blitzwing would always be hampered by his more heavily armored modifications, and Starscream had eventually managed to evade him by making use of his more aerodynamic form. Blitzwing had circled above the city a few times in the hope that he'd be able to find him again, but after a good hour with nothing to show for it, Blitzwing had been forced to give up the chase.

The first thing he did after he touched down was to bring out his datapad and erase all the messages Sari had sent. His digits made quick taps as he deleted the device of incriminating evidence, and after making triple sure that everything had been wiped clean, he trudged into the cave system.

His first stop was the main hub, but he quickly noticed that everyone seemed to be missing. This was certainly a surprise; because with how heavily Megatron was pushing them to complete the space bridge, he really would've expected everyone to still be hard at work. Blitzwing wasn't sure why, but the longer he stayed in the empty room the more uneasy he started to feel. Everything was so quiet, almost unnaturally so. It felt as if the entirety of the mine was holding its breath in anticipation for something to happen. The thought of what that 'something' could be gave him chills.

Blitzwing stubbornly shook his helm and told himself he was just being paranoid. The others were probably just late getting back from their break or something. So, to distract himself from how odd this whole situation was starting to feel, he retrieved his data pad and went back to cataloging their remaining building material like he'd been before getting Sari's call. He did that uninterrupted for some time, but without warning, he suddenly felt someone grab his shoulder.

“Hello Blitzwing, do you have a moment?” Blitzwing froze. The deep tone left no doubt as to the voice's owner, and when he turned his helm he was met by Megatron's crimson optics.

Primus! He hadn’t even heard him approach! Blitzwing immediately turned around, put his datapad in his subspace and gave the Decepticon leader a respectful salute.

“My lord, how can I be of service?” Megatron’s grip on his shoulder increased steadily until it became almost painful. 

“I noticed that you left a bit early today.” Blitzwing felt his energon turn to ice.  _ ‘He knows about that?’  _ He thought frantically, this was  _ not _ good. He subtly began looking for any outward hints as to how angry Megatron was about his sudden disappearance, but the Decepticon leader might as well have been made out of stone for how cold and indifferent he appeared. “Now why was that?”

“I just felt the need to stretch my wings for a bit my lord.” He said, trying to keep his voice even. His faceplate switched to Random. “It’s just so cramped in here! If I make one wrong move in this place my wings will hit someone!” His voice rose in pitch as he laughed and he could only hope that Megatron didn’t notice how strained he sounded. "And anyway, while I was out I had a run in with Starscream, so I might've gotten a  _ tiny  _ bit distracted.”

“Distracted?” Megatron repeated flatly. Blitzwing nodded once before returning to his Icy persona.

“Yes my lord.”

“I thought you were getting better at staying focused.” Megatron replied, his voice taking on a threatening tone. “At least, that’s what I'd  _ assumed _ after your little hostage situation during your last supply run.” Megatron seemed none too pleased if his tone was anything to go by, and Blitzwing shrank in on himself as he was confronted by his earlier actions. 

“Yes, please forgive me my lord, you know how I get when I let Random take control. If I need to work longer to make up for the time lost I’d be happy to-”

“Who is Random?” Megatron suddenly cut in, sounding very unamused. Blitzwing staled for a moment. The name for his black faceplate was something Bumblebee had come up with, and he'd just ended up adopting, but he'd never intended to let it slip out around any of the other Decepticons. 

“It-it’s the name of my black faceplate my lord.” He barely had time to finish his explanation before Megatron began voicing his disapproval.

“You named your faceplates?” he asked incredulously. Blitzwing gave a small nod.

“Ye-yes I just thought it might make it easier to differentiate which of them-”

“Since when did anyone in this base need to specify one of your three freakish mutations they were referring to?” He asked, taking a step forward. Blitzwing stepped back by sheer reflex, his spark pulse beginning to speed up.

“Never my lord, it-it’s just something I’ve been thinking about.” He said, his panic rising as he quickly tried to think of a way to talk himself out of this mess.

“Well, I’m glad you found time in your  _ busy _ schedule to think about such things when you were  _ supposed _ to be helping with the space bridge.” He said with a snarl, his displeasure undeniable. “Give me your datapad.” The sudden command caught Blitzwing very off guard, and for a moment he just looked at the warlord with confusion.

“I’m sorry-?” Megatron took a step closer and glared down at him.

“The datapad. Now.” His voice left no room for argument.

Fearing what would happen if he was forced to ask again, Blitzwing reached into his subspace and retrieved his datapad. He then quickly typed out the necessary password and handed it over without any further objections. Megatron snatched it from his servo and immediately started scrolling through its contents, leaving Blitzwing to watch him in silence as he was quite suddenly ignored. 

“What is this about-?”

“Silence.” Megatron commanded without looking up. After that Blitzwing wisely chose to keep his questions to himself. 

Still, Megatron's unusual behaviour couldn't be ignored, and the continued silence was only serving to make Blitzwing feel even more uneasy. _ 'What did he know? Had he somehow been tipped off about his meetings with Bumblebee?' _ He stubbornly shook those thoughts out of his helm. ' _ No, it wasn't possible. He'd been so careful! How could he? When? How?' _ The fear those questions induced just ended up circled around inside his helm, but he forcefully pushed them back.

_ ‘No, he couldn’t possibly know, maybe he's just unusually suspicious,’  _ He told himself. Megatron was probably just acting more paranoid because of Blitzwing's earlier mention of Starscream. He'd go through his datapad, find nothing, and hopefully drop this makeshift interrogation. All Blitzwing had to do was remain calm and deny any knowledge of his involvement with the Autobots.

Eventually, Megatron stopped his fevered scrolling.

“Who is this?” Megatron asked, showing him the single unnamed contact that actually belonged to Bumblebee. 

“I have no idea who it is my liege.” Blitzwing said, struggling to keep his voice calm as they waded into dangerous territory. “If there's no name then it must've just come from a wrong number.” Megatron just looked at him for a long moment.

“If that's true, then It’s curious that you haven’t deleted it yet, why, I'd say it almost seems like you wanted to keep this one.” Megatron stared at him with narrowed optics, his expression so intense Blitzwing had to actively fight himself not to buckle under his scrutiny. Knowing that the slightest misstep could be seen as evasiveness or even evidence of guilt. “But that wouldn’t make sense, now would it?” Blitzwing's faceplate switched to Random.

“Would make as much sense as me!” He said with a laugh, unsure if Megatron knew he was laughing more out of nervousness then any real sense of humor. Either way, his response seemed to be what Megatron was hoping for because suddenly, he was leering down at the triple changer with a smirk that sent a chill up Blitzwing's backstruts. 

“I do however find it curious that this _nobody_ has contacted you without leaving a single message. Wouldn’t they not have to send at least one for them to be in your contact list?” Blitzwing felt his spark stop. He honestly hadn’t thought about that. For a moment He just looked at Megatron as his processor quickly tried to come up with an explanation. His faceplate switched back to Icy.

“Yes, I agree it’s quite curious.” He replied, “Must be some sort of technical glitch.” Megatron’s smirk fell and his optics narrowed, but he said nothing.

The silence dragged on for a moment longer, and Blitzwing fought not to squirm as Megatron continued to scrutinize him.

“Blitzwing, may I pose a question?” Blitzwing gave him a quick nod.

“Yes, of course my lord.” 

“Have you ever spoken to an Autobot on friendly terms?” Blitzwing felt as if he'd just taken a shot to the spark chamber.

Megatron  _ knew _ . He had too, or else why would he be asking him these questions? Should he own up to it, or could he somehow spin this in his favor? 

Blitzwing quickly dismissed both options. All he needed to do was keep acting oblivious and deny any accusations. Maybe Megatron didn’t actually know anything, maybe he was only baiting him on the off chance he would reveal more. ' _ He's only trying to trick you!'  _ He shouted internally. He knew Megatron was both a clever strategist and a master manipulator, so it was still entirely possible that the Decepticon leader didn't actually know anything, but was instead, waiting for Blitzwing to incriminate himself. 

Blitzwing wasn't sure if he honestly believed that, or if it was just wishful thinking on his part, but the knowledge of what would happen if his treachery was discovered was simply too awful to consider. Unbidden, his mind flashed back to what had happened to Starscream. Megatron had, (from the information they had thought at the time) executed him right in front of his fellow Decepticons without batting an optic. The same mech had been at his side for countless millennia; he'd violently murdered him without a second thought. What would his own punishment be if his treachery was revealed? The horrific operation that had made him what he currently was, had been garnered simply for the crime of skipping out on his duties. What would lying, going behind his back, and canoodling with the enemy earn him? With a sudden jolt, Blitzwing realized that he still hadn't answered Megatron's question, and with a quick jerk his faceplate switched to Hothead.

“No of course not my lord!” He shouted with as much conviction as he could muster, “Why in Primus' name would I talk to some worthless Autobot?!” Megatron seemed to scrutinize him rather closely as he considered his answer and Blitzwing could only hope that he'd said the right thing.

For a moment Megatron just stood there, seemingly still judging his answer. Another beat of silence passed, but eventually the Decepticon leader seemed to reach a conclusion; because he motioned as if to return the confiscated datapad.

Just as Blitzwing reached out to take it back, Megatron suddenly let go, letting it fall to the floor with a dull ‘clank’. Blitzwing followed it down with his optics, momentarily distracted by its descent.

With his servo now free, Megatron suddenly surged forward, stepping on the forgotten datapad, before he grabbed Blitzwing's still extended servo and began to squeeze.

XXX

Blitzwing plating buckled under the pressure, and it made a horrible grinding sound as the pistons and inner workings in his right servo were slowly crushed. Blitzwing jerked and his optics snapped towards Megatron, who seemed unbothered by the horrendous noise. It suddenly went deathly quiet, and just like the calm before a storm, Blitzwing had just barely enough time to comprehend what had happened. The attack having been so unexpected he hadn’t even had time to scream. 

“Do you take me for a fool my dear Blitzwing?" Megatron asked with a sadistic smile, "I  _ know _ you've been in contact with the Autobots.” Megatron then slowly let go of his servo and seemed content to simply wait for Blitzwing's reaction.

All at once Blitzwing felt an intense flare of agony flow through his mangled servo and all the way up to his shoulder and he began hyperventilating as he surveyed the damage. Vibrant energon seeped through large cracks in his black plating, a small, luminous puddle had started to form under his peds.

Blitzwing's first instinct was to try moving his digits, but to his horror he realised that they'd been damaged too badly to listen to his commands. Megatron had crushed his servo so bad it couldn’t function at all.

Even looking down at his mutilated appendage Blitzwing still felt as if his processor was lagging behind, and when he looked up at the Decepticon leader through icy's mismatched optics all he felt was confusion. 

“M-my lord?” He asked, sounding dazed. Megatron responded with a vicious punch to the faceplate.

The sheer force of the attack had Blitzwing staggering back a few feet and he tasted energon in his mouth. Without giving him a second to recover, Megatron was on him again; this time hitting him hard in the abdomen.

Blitzwing let out a sharp gasp as it suddenly felt as all the air had suddenly left his vents, and he collapsed to his knees coughing and sputtering as his vents opened and closed futility. 

Megatron didn’t waste any time after that, and immediately kicked Blitzwing to the floor, where he lay gasping for air.

The assault didn't stop, and Megatron began kicking him over and over until he finally rolled onto his back. Blitzwing grimaced at the pain in his back and sides, but he quickly had bigger things to worry about once Megatron leaned down and roughly grabbed Blitzwing by his chin guard. His neck was forced to bend at an unnatural angle and Megatron's digits dug into the delicate plating of his cheeks as he was given no option but to look into his leader's hate filled optics.

“What does the Autobot know?! What have you told him?!” Megatron snarled, his voice filled with venom.

Things had escalated so fast that Blitzwing's processor was left reeling. Megatron had somehow seen right through his lies, and his only option now was to own up to it before he was killed. However, even being the sole focus of his leader's fury wasn't enough for Blitzwing to throw Bumblebee under the bus. If he admitted to his involvement with Bumblebee he might as well be signing the minibot's death warrant along with his own, but there still had to be something he could do to salvage this situation. Maybe, if he just held out a little longer Megatron would be satisfied enough to let him go. His faceplate switched to Hothead.

“I would never conspire with some dirty-” Megatron roughly grabbed Blitzwing by the helm before he could finish and slammed him hard into the stone floor. The pain was excruciating, and Blitzwing's audio receptors began ringing as the pain traveled from the back of his helm all the way up to his neck.

“You  _ dare _ lie to me Blitzwing?!” Megatron said, his voice poisonous, “Do I really need to remind you who so generously gave you this frame? Of whose faction you swore an oath to? Of whose faction you  _ belong  _ to?” Megatron snarled. Blitzwing shook his helm.

“My loyalty has always been to you and the Decepticons!” Blitzwing insisted, but Megatron's expression only grew more irritated, and with an angry snarl he suddenly let go of Blitzwing’s chin. 

He looked at the downed triple changer for a moment longer, seemingly considering his options. Suddenly, with an emotionless expression, he raised his ped and brought it down on Blitzwing’s damaged servo. Blitzwing stubbornly grit his denta against the pain, and he was just barely able to keep himself from crying out.

“You keep saying that you've stayed true to our cause, but your actions tell a different story.” Megatron said, as he began grinding his ped down on the damaged appendage, similar to a human putting out a cigarette with the heel of their shoe.

Blitzwing felt the pain travel like lightning up his arm. He weakly gasped for air as dark spots began dancing across his vision, and he began feeling decidedly faint. 

Megatron seemed to notice this and stopped his onslaught just long enough to deliver a savage punch to his faceplate. Blitzwing's visor splintered on impact, but somewhat miraculously, it managed to stay on his face. The attack fulfilled its purpose though, and Blitzwing was shocked back from the edge.

Megatron then pinned him down with a well placed knee in Blitzwing's stomach. The full weight of the mech pressed into such a vital place made his earlier injuries ache terribly, and he found it difficult to drag air into his vents. Megatron then leaned down until they were barely inches apart.

“Don’t you dare blackout on me. We aren't finished speaking yet.” Megatron growled, his mouth close enough for Blitzwing to feel hot breath against his faceplate. Blitzwing instinctually craned his neck in a futile attempt to put some space between him and the enraged warlord, and his venting became harsh and ragged as he dealt with both his damaged frame and the raw terror the Decepticon leader inspired in him. "Tell me what you have told him." Blitzwing weakly shook his helm.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Blitzwing cried. 

Megatron simply leaned back and shook his helm in disappointment, an undercurrent of annoyance reflected in his narrowed optics.

“Well then, if  _ you’re  _ not going to give me a clear answer, then I'll just have to capture the little, yellow malfunction and ask  _ him. _ ” He gave Blitzwing a sinister look. “I’m sure he’d be more than willing to answer my questions after some...  _ convincing. _ ” 

Blitzwing's mind stalled as a new type of horror filled him.  _ Yellow  _ malfunction, Megatron  _ did _ know about his relationship with Bumblebee. Somehow, he'd even managed to pinpoint the correct Autobot. There was no hiding it now, Blitzwing realized with a sense of dread, if he knew about Bumblebee then there wasn't any point in denying it anymore. Blitzwing knew what happened to the mechs Megatron “convinced", and the thought of Bumblebee being tortured for information he might not even have was simply more than he could bear. To the pit with saving himself, he was accustomed to pain, but he had to protect Bumblebee. 

“He knows nothing my lord! I swear, he poses no threat to us or our plans!” he shouted, Megatron's expression hardened, but there was a hint of sadistic glee in those burning optics at finally getting Blitzwing to admit his guilt. 

“Why do you have contact with him?” Megatron demanded. Blitzwing was running on pure adrenaline by this point. Saying that it was because he'd developed genuine feelings for the little Autobot would never be seen as an acceptable excuse for his actions, and admitting it outright would only end up getting Bumblebee and himself killed. So, running out of both time and options, Blitzwing began grasping at straws.

“He’s under the impression we're in love.” Blitzwing suddenly blurted out, “But I assure you, it’s only a ruse, and by keeping up the facade I’m sure I can eventually get him to trust me enough to share valuable information." If Blitzwing could just convince Megatron that Bumblebee was a useful asset, maybe Megatron would leave him be. Who knows, maybe Megatron would even sanction him allowed visits if he believed Blitzwing could return with intel. Right now all Blitzwing wanted was one more chance to see Bumblebee so he could warn him of the potential danger. Megatron would never rest once he had his eye on a potential target, and Blitzwing needed to tell him before it was too late for Bumblebee to get out of the crossfire. If Megatron went after him now, he'd wouldn't see it coming until it was too late. He was brought out of his thoughts when Megatron gave him an odd look.

“Why would he love you?” He asked. He hadn’t said it out right, but Blitzwing knew what Megatron was really asking, ‘How could anyone love a freak like you?’

“I’m not sure, some misplaced sympathy? Idiocy, or maybe some kind of savior complex? I’m-I’m not sure exactly.” Blitzwing dearly hoped Megatron bought his explanation and didn’t notice the slight tremor in his voice, but his doubts intensified when Megatron narrowed his optics. 

“Why wasn't I informed of this little  _ plan  _ of yours?”

“I just didn't have much to show for it at first, my liege. I was going to wait until I had actual intel before l brought it to your attention." Primus, he hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt. “There was also the chance that if I failed I'd just end up looking foolish, and I wanted to avoid the backlash.'' He knew his excuses were only serving to make him seem incompetent, but with Bumblebee's spark on the line he was willing to take a few hits to his ego. He'd gladly allow the reputation he'd tried so hard to build back up crumble if it meant he could keep Bumblebee safe. 

Megatron looked enraged. 

“That’s idiotic” He growled, making Blitzwing flinch and his faceplate switched out for Random who let out an almost hysterical bark of laughter.

“Forgive me my lord, but you know my helm's missing some screws.” He giggled, tapping the side of his helm with a black digit. Megatron gave him a hard look.

“Tch, blaming insanity…” He muttered with distaste, as he stood up. “Then I’ll just have to knock some sense back into you.” He gave Blitzwing one last look of displeasure before raising his ped and hovering it over Blitzwing’s knee joint.

Blitzwing quickly realised what was about to happen and Random retreated in time for Icy to plead for mercy.

“Wait! Please don't my lord! Please I didn't-” In one swift motion Megatron stepped down and a loud snap echoed throughout the cave system followed closely by a frame chilling scream as the pain finally became too much to bear.

As soon as Megatron lifted his ped from his shattered leg, Blitzwing drew it close to his chest. There was no energon this time, but it was clear the damage was significant as the joint had been inverted from the force and the remains of his purple knee guard now littered the floor. Blitzwing felt tears of pain well up in his optics as he held his damaged leg with his remaining servo. His ventilations were nothing more than cut off gasps and black spots once again swam across his vision at the steadily increasing agony. 

It was then that Megatron decided to start kicking him. Over and over he thrashed the already downed triple changer, the blows hard enough to put dents in Blitzwing's thick plating.

One kick struck him in the faceplate, splitting his lip open and causing hot energon to trail sluggishly down his chin, but in comparison to everything else he'd suffered, it was barely a ping on his radar. 

In a last resort to protect his spark, Blitzwing curled up into a ball, using his legs to block the blows to his chest and crossing the remains of his servos over his helm. All the while, the kicks come harder and faster.

They were only one size class apart, if even that, but Megatron had always been able to make him feel small. Small, weak and powerless like a puddle comparing itself to the vast ocean. He was so much less when he was faced with his leader. Megatron was stronger, wickedly intelligent, and more dangerous, than him and even comparing himself to Megatron felt like an act of hubris.

Pain wasn't an unfamiliar feature in Blitzwing's life, he'd been a soldier during the great war after all, but fighting on a battlefield was very different from this. During the heat of battle an almost giddy excitement had taken over and he'd been able to shake off devastating injuries as if he didn’t feel them. This- this was far different. His frame felt like it was starting to shut down, and the crippling fear of his situation robbed him of the ability to move, not it would change anything if he could. If he tried to flee Megatron would just catch him, and if he tried to fight or defend himself he'd be overpowered quickly. Any option that didn't involve just laying still and taking the hits as they came would end up exacerbating his punishment, and so all he could do was to lay on the floor like an empty husk.

Suddenly, the barrage of kicks stopped and Blitzwing felt a servo close around his intake. Before he fully knew what was happening he was suddenly forced up and slammed into one of the cave jagged walls. He saw stars as his helm bounced off the hard stone, but worse was the jagged rocks that dug into his back. One of them pierced straight through the plating on his back, and before long he could feel warm energon trailing down his legs.

He was suspended above the ground, held aloft purely by Megatron's grip around his intake. Slowly the warlord began to increase pressure and Blitzwing had to fight to drag in enough air, his plating starting to buckle underneath Megatron's digits. He clawed weakly at Megatron's servo with his remaining servo, but he wasn’t nearly strong enough to loosen the vice grip on his throat.

Feeling lightheaded, he looked into Megatron faceplate and the cold, calculating expression he found there sent chills through his backstruts. He quickly turned away, not wanting to meet those burning optics any longer. Instead, his gaze landed on his crushed datapad lying a few meters away, and he felt his faceplate switch to Random.

Funny thing, when Bumblebee was in trouble someone messaged him for help, but who was going to send for help now he's the one in trouble? He gasps out a wheezing crackle of air, his intake no longer capable of laughter. He knows he's starting to panic, but he can't stop the quiet hysteria he can just barely rasp out. He was seriously starting to worry if Megatron was about to snuff out his spark here and now. His end is just so unfitting, is this really going to be the way he goes? 

At some point, it feels as if the outside world is falling away. All sound fades into a distant hum and the black spots he's been seeing begin to cloud his vision. The bitter taste of energon turned into ash in his mouth, and after another beat, he stops his useless clawing.

He's beginning to feel like his frame is no longer his own. It started out as a vague numbness, but now it's starting to feel like he's simply an outsider watching it happen. Now he's nothing more than an onlooker, watching from another plane as Megatron continues to strangle the last bit of life out of him, and if only for a moment, his mind is suddenly free of the pain and the fear. Everything is peaceful where he is, and the many things he knows he should be feeling simply roll off of him as he drifts further away.

On an instinctual level he knows this is bad, feeling so calm during a moment like this definitely isn't a good sign, but even this revelation isn't enough to instill panic.

No, his mind seemed to be floating somewhere far off, somewhere that wasn’t here, somewhere that wasn’t terrible and painful. Searching for something else,  _ someone else. _ His mind finally stops on a familiar sunny grin.

The grin that Bumblebee smiled just for Blitzwing. How happy he always got when they met up for their dates, the way his optics burned when he spoke about something he was passionate about, the wonderful sound of his laughter that never failed to make Blitzwing feel all warm inside, the way his frame felt when he was so closely held against his, the euphoria of their every kiss.

It all played behind his optics as he drifted away. If Megatron ended up killing him then this was how he wanted to go out, surrounded by his best memories. Suddenly, an errant thought shattered the fragile little world of joy and happy memories he'd created, and everything came crashing down.

If he died here he’d never get to see Bumblebee again. The sudden realisation of that hurt more than any damage Megatron had ever inflicted. He'd die here alone, he'd die without ever getting to say goodbye, he'd be leaving Bumblebee behind without so much as a whisper.

He'd never get to feel his tiny frame in his arms again, he'd never get to be the reason he smiled. What would happen to Bumblebee once he was gone? How was he going to react? Would he mourn for him? His mind involuntarily snapped to the few times he'd witnessed Bumblebee cry and his spark felt as if it were being ripped apart. It was the awful thought of what his death might do to the minibot that dragged him back from the brink of unconsciousness, and he was suddenly overwhelmed as his senses returned to him. The jagged rocks digging into his back, the white hot agony in his servo, Megatron's vice grip on his neck, it was overpowering, and through it all Blitzwing held onto a single thought, ‘I want to live.'

Suddenly, everything was too much to take and he began crying in earnest. Pathetic, sorrowful sounds escaped his tight intake as tears of both pain and anguish leaked from his optics and trailed down his cheeks. With what little fighting spirit he had left, he switched to Hothead and started weakly clawing at Megatron's servo, long past the point of caring if he looked or sounded pathetic.

‘Please stop,’ He thought feebly, no longer capable of forming the words, ‘I just want more time to spend with him.’ but instead of words all that came out was a choked off sob, ‘I want to see him again ...Please… I don’t want to die here...’

“L-Lord, Megatron sir!” A voice suddenly shouted. Megatron reluctantly shifted his focus from strangling Blitzwing and slowly turned his helm in the direction of the voice's owner. His optics landing on the human in the containment unit. Megatron glared harshly at the unwanted interruption, and although Sumdac was shivering, he stood his ground and met the warlord's optics straight on.

“Can’t you see I’m busy organic?” Megatron growled, motioning towards the whimpering frame of Blitzwing who he still held pressed against the wall. Sumdac flinched, but nodded anyway.

“Y-yes b-b-but my monitor suddenly stopped working.” He stammered, toggling the power button to prove his point. “A-a-and I just thought since you've made the construction of the space bridge your  _ top priority _ that you'd want to know.” Blitzwing had to put in a lot of effort, but eventually he was able to look down at the tiny human. From time to time professor would throw sympathetic glances his way and Blitzwing realized it wasn't a coincidence that Sumdac's monitor had suddenly broken down, he must've sabotaged intentionally to distract Megatron. But why?

Megatron studied the human for a long moment, his optics narrowed in suspicion. A few tense seconds passed by without incident, but finally Megatron let out a low growl of irritation and carelessly dropped Blitzwing to the ground. 

Blitzwing lurched forward as soon as he was released, his damaged knee hitting the floor first and sending a shock of pain rushing through his frame. He then made the mistake of trying to catch himself with both servos and his right arm buckled under him. Blitzwing grit his denta against the burning pain as his multiple injuries were jostled, and lacking the necessary energy to get up, he simply stayed where he'd fallen.

XXX

For a moment he just lay there and focused on drawing air back into his vents. However, the significant damage Megatron had caused this intake made every breath a struggle.

“You’re either lying or you’re a fool.” Megatron snarled, turning back to Blitzwing, “Thankfully, for you I have just the plan to discover which one it is. From now on you are _forbidden_ from contacting the Autobot and you _will_ _give me his name_.”

Blitzwing's entire frame ached and he was starting to feel distinctly unwell. His mind was still a little foggy, but somehow a few coherent thoughts managed to slip through the haze.

_ ‘Don’t tell him anything, you’ll never forgive yourself if your words get Bumblebee killed.’ _ But, then what was he supposed to do? Simply not say anything at all? Megatron would just take that as a challenge and take pleasure in beating the information out of him. He could always go with another lie, but he was in no state to keep a poker face, and Megatron would definitely sense his deceit. But Like a flash of lightning, two words boomed inside his helm.

‘ _ Play dead!'  _

Without thinking any further about it _ ,  _ Blitzwing suddenly went still and shut his optics. He wasn't the best actor, but if he could just stay still long enough, he might be able to pull this off.

_ ‘Calm your venting, remember unconscious people don’t hyperventilate! Don’t move, don’t even flinch!’  _ His mind kept screaming at him.

He felt a servo roughly grab him by the chin and he very nearly panicked again when he felt Megatron's touch. Sharp digits suddenly began digging deep welts into his plating, but throughout the slow torture Blitzwing remained completely still. He'd already lost a leg and one of his servos to the warlord, in comparison to those injuries, the pain he felt from Megatron's digits was insignificant.

He heard an irritated huff from above him and his faceplate was dropped.

He then felt someone roughly grab his ankle and he was dragged across the jagged cave floor. He wasn't sure where they were going, and he was too delirious to track Megatron's movements to figure it out.

Just as suddenly, Megatron let go of him and he could hear him speaking to someone else.

“Lugnut, bring the professor, some sheet metal, and the necessary equipment for him to fix up Blitzwing, I have other things to attend to.” The sound of Megatron's footsteps echoed through the cave as he walked further and further away.

Blitzwing waited a few spark stopping moments until he was sure the Decepticon leader wasn't coming back, before carefully opening his optics and taking in his surroundings. From what he could see, he'd been dragged back to his personal quarters. He attempted to rise, but his frame wouldn't listen to his commands.

Sooner than he would've liked, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps headed his way and he went back to feigning unconsciousness. 

There was silence for a few moments after they arrived, but eventually Blitzwing heard a loud crash ring out along with the sound of several things hitting the cave floor. It was hard to distinguish just what had been dropped just by sound alone, but he was fairly certain that some of it had been metal. 

He then heard the booming voice of Lugnut.

“Our leader commands that you get Blitzwing back into working order, so you shall not get a break until it has been done! Megatron commands it!” He sounded angry, but more than likely he was simply channeling Megatron's own frustration over what Blitzwing had done.

“A-alright.” Blitzwing immediately recognized the harried voice of professor Sumdac. “B-but you have to leave. I'll need space to be able to work.” He heard Lugnut give a disapproving huff.

“If it will better help you carry out Lord Megatron's order then so be it, but I'll be standing guard just down the corridor so don’t get any ideas." After that he heard Lugnut step out into the hallway.

As soon it sounded like the fanatic was far enough away, Blitzwing re-opened his optics and continued scanning the inside of the room. 

Lugnut  had kept his word and had left,  which left Sumdac  and himself as the only occupants . Sumdac had his back to him  and appeared to be sorting through  a pile of  various material and tools.

Seeing as the coast was clear, Blitzwing again attempted to get up. At the very least, he'd like to salvage whatever dignity he had left and lay on his own berth instead of the dirty floor. He grit his denta in pain as he got his remaining servo under him and tried to heave himself up. Even just lifting his helm felt like a herculean task, and as he struggled the room began to spin sickeningly around him.

Sumdac immediately turned around with an expression of shock at the sound of straining metal, more than likely having believed Blitzwing was unconscious as well.

“I-I don’t think you should be moving right now,” He said, “You’re injured.” He then added quietly. Blitzwing was half way to screaming, ‘Do you think I don’t know that?!’, when he was cut off by a round of hacking coughs that shook his frame. He stopped trying to move after that, the familiar taste of energon coating his glossa.

Blitzwing watched listlessly as the professor scuttled about. He wasn't particularly excited about Sumdac putting his grubby little human fingers on him, both because Blitzwing still didn’t particularly like humans, but also because the thought of another medical procedure left him feeling rather ill. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much say in the matter. Megatron had ordered that he be fixed, so he'd be fixed whether he liked it or not.

Eventually, he was calm enough for Icy to take control. He still had a question to get out of the way after all, and he might as well ask it now.

“Why...?” Blitzwing started, his voice a painful sounding rasp. It was possible that his intake had been compromised in the attack, but it could also just be that his crying had strained his vocal components. Either way, it hurt to form words, but his curiosity drove him to continue. “Why did you do that? Why would you risk Megatron's anger to save me? I'm one of the ones that's helped to keep you prisoner, why did you help me?” Sumdac looked up at him, his expression seeming somewhat conflicted. 

“I suppose it's because, even if you’re not the best person, you didn't deserve what was happening to you. The way you cried… It-it just didn’t feel right to not at least try to help.“ He seemed a bit worried that Blitzwing might retaliate for saying such things, but the triple changer was in no state for argument so Blitzwing let it slide. Even if he could, he didn’t really have the spark to harm Sari’s creator anyway. Though, his explanation for why he'd helped left something to be desired. 

“So you helped me because what, you couldn’t stand to watch me suffer?”

“Yes…” He turned away for a moment before speaking again, “And one other reason.” Blitzwing narrowed his optics in suspicion.

“What reason?” Blitzwing asked. Sumdac shot him a worried glance, as if he'd suddenly remembered who he was talking to, but after a few seconds of uneasy silence he finally managed to push forward.

“B-both you and Megatron said… That you had a relationship with an Autobot, the yellow one.” Blitzwing nodded slightly.

“Bumble-” His voice suddenly cut out, but Sumdac seemingly understood what he was trying to say.

“That thing about tricking him... was that true?” He asked slowly, Blitzwing watched him for a moment. He was a little worried about this getting back to Megatron, but he was fairly certain the professor wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to Bumblebee, so it should be safe. He gently shook his helm

“No. My feelings… are true.” His words were almost a whisper, his continued use of his voice making his intake feel as if it were on fire. Sumdac gave him a rather serious nod, but he still seemed somewhat befuddled over the revelation.

“He-he has a best friend…” Sumdac started, “A human child, a little girl. Her name is Sari. Did he… did he ever talk to you about her?” Blitzwing was starting to have serious trouble hearing what Sumdac was saying, everything had begun to sound muffled and his helm felt as if it were full of cotton. He was so tired… 

As time stretched on without an answer, Sumdac began to look disappointed. Eventually his gaze dropped to the floor. 

“I’m sorry, I know you must be exhausted, I’ll start your repair-”

“She lives with them.” Blitzwing suddenly cut him off. Sumdac's eyes widened and he looked up at Blitzwing with a spark of hope.

“W-what?” Blitzwing panted heavily before trying to speak again.

”She lives with the Auto...” His glossa felt like a foreign object, and had to put great effort into forming every syllable to come out of his mouth.

”With the Autobots?” Sumdac finished for him. Blitzwing gave him a weak nod.

”She's safe and healthy… They take good care of her.” He took a moment to catch his breath before forcing out the last three words, ”She misses you.”

Sumdac looked at him in stunned silence, and seemingly on autopilot, he made his way towards the fallen Decepticon. Once he was close enough, he gripped one of the digits on his undamaged servo. Blitzwing had no energy to pull away, and after a moment of hesitation, Sumdac gently shook it in the fashion one might give a hand shake.

“Thank you.” His voice was shaking, and it was then Blitzwing noticed the tears in his eyes. “Thank you, thank you for telling me." His other arm came up to wipe his face, "Thank you, thank so much.” Blitzwing still wasn’t very good at understanding humans, but even so, he could practically feel Sumdac's relief “You don't know how much it means to me to know that she's safe.” He sniffed. Blitzwing was finding it more and more difficult to keep his optics open, and eventually he felt himself succumbing to unconsciousness. 

_ ‘I think I can imagine it… please stay safe Bumblebee...’ _

* * *

Bumblebee let out a huge yawn as he shut the door to his room and crawled into his berth. He then brought out his datapad and proceeded to look at it sourly. 

Blitzwing still hadn’t messaged him asking if they could talk. Bumblebee shrugged, maybe he was still working late or something? He didn’t really know what the Decepticons were doing all day so he guessed that was a possibility. Maybe he'd thought their run in earlier today was enough, or maybe he was still chasing Starscream around? 

Well, whatever the reason when Bumblebee looked back down at the blank screen he realised something.

Blitzwing still hadn’t sent his good night text either… Which meant Bumblebee had now the chance to do it first! He was so excited about the opportunity that he must've misspelled his text at least three times before he finally got it right and sent it off. ‘Good night Blitzy! Thanks for the save today! I own you one! Love ya!’ he looked at the message with a wide grin,  _ ‘This must be my lucky day!  _ ’ he thought to himself,  _ ‘Finally I got to send a message first!’  _

He tried to stay awake long enough to read the messages Blitzwing surely would send back, but eventually Bumblebee was too tired to keep his optics open and he started drifting off. 

That was fine, he thought sleepily, he could always read Blitzwing's reply in the morning. He fell into recharge not long after that with a satisfied smirk on his lips. Unknowing that his message had gone straight to a broken data pad, unknowing that Blitzwing would never see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summery: Megatron crushes Blitzwing's servo and demands to know what he had told the "yellow Autobot" and why he is with him. Blitzwing lies and says he has tricked Bumblebee into believing that they are in love, but that it's all a rouse to get information from him. Megatron steps on Blitzwing's knee and kicks him before starting to strangle him. Sumdac suddenly says his monitor isn't working and is able to get Megatron to stop hurting Blitzwing.


	10. The last goodnight text

Bumblebee stared intently at his datapad as he made his way through the base.

Blitzwing  _ still _ hadn’t returned any of his messages. The latest text was the one Bumblebee had written himself last night, but it was already noon of the next day, and there hadn't been any contact from the triple changer. The fact that Blitzwing hadn’t attempted to contact him even once in all that time had Bumblebee feeling rather worried. In the entire three months that they'd been together, there had never been a period where Blitzwing’s line went dead like this. He always responded. Of course, he could always just be especially busy today or something. Megatron  _ might be  _ breathing down his neck, so maybe it just wasn’t safe right now and he'd respond later once the coast was clear. Still, those explanations did little to ease Bumblebee's worry.

Bumblebee was suddenly jolted from his internal dialogue when he bumped right into Bulkhead. The unexpectedness of the collision had him bouncing off his friend's much thicker plating and he fell to the floor with an 'oof'. Bulkhead immediately turned around and looked down at him with a startled expression.

“You okay little buddy?” He asked, extending out a helpful servo. Bumblebee nodded as accepted the help.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Guess' I just wasn’t watching where I was going.” He mumbled as Bulkhead dragged him back to his peds. 

“You've really got to be more careful.” Bulkhead said with an easy going smile, “You’ve been walking around with your head in the clouds all day, what's got you so distracted?" He asked, tilting his helm curiously. Immediately, Bumblebee started thinking up excuses to explain his odd behaviour.

“We-Well, there's this new game that's supposed to be released today, and I really want to be one of the first to play it.” Bumblebee couldn’t quite meet Bulkhead's optics as he said that. He hated having to lie so blatantly, especially to Bulkhead. It just felt so unfair that Sari knew the truth, but Bulkhead, the close friend he'd made all the way back in boot camp, was still forced to stay in the dark. But Sari was a human, she'd never been exposed to the harsh realities of the Autobot/Decepticon war, so it made sense that she wasn’t too upset over his whole, “dating a con” thing. He could never hope to expect the same level of support and understanding from Bulkhead, or anyone else in the base for that matter. 

Bumblebee had promised Sari he'd consider telling the rest of the team the truth, but he still had no real intention of doing so. He wasn’t sure if he'd ever be ready to cross that bridge.

Bulkhead gave him an odd look .

“Well, okay…” He said, sounding uncertain. However, almost immediately afterwards he seemed to brighten. “Hey, maybe later you could help me out with another art piece? I've recently been trying my hand at sculpture, but I've been having alot of trouble with the stone breaking and stuff.” 

“Yeah, sure,” Bumblebee said distractedly, his optics once again focused on his datapad. Bulkhead's servo abruptly blocked his line of sight as the larger mech gently tipped the edge of his datapad; forcing Bumblebee to meet his optics.

“Are you sure everything's okay?” he asked, sounding worried. Bumblebee just cocked his helm to the side. He was already feeling a bit anxious about the whole, 'Blitzwing not responding thing', he really wished he didn't have to deal with Bulkhead's misplaced concern on top of it. Not when Bumblebee's reason for not acting like his usual self was because of his biggest secret.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” He asked, trying to sound casual.

“I guess no reason, just making sure.” He said, sounding almost sheepish. “ It's just, you were almost slagged by both Starscream  _ and _ Blitzwing just yesterday. I would've been terrified if I was in your place." He admitted, "I mean, Starscream's a sneaky fragger and Blitzwing is just crazy, so having to deal with the both of them at once must've been really hard.” 

“Pfft, I can handle those two in my recharge.” Bumblebee said, waving off his concern.  Their  conversation entered a short lull after that, but feeling a small sense of disquiet Bumblebee couldn’t help making a hesitant request. “Could you… could you maybe not call Blitzwing crazy?” Bumblebee knew he was seriously testing his luck, but he really wanted to get a sense of just how accepting Bulkhead might be. If nothing else, he could at least test the waters with Bulkhead first before he tried it out on his less than easy going teammates. Bulkhead himself just looked confused. 

“I guess... but why?” Bumblebee just shrugged.

“I don’t know...” He said with an audible sigh, “I just, I think… Never mind it’s stupid, forget I said anything.” He muttered, as he quickly walked past Bulkhead and made his way towards the sofa. Feeling the concerned gaze of Bulkhead follow him the whole way. 

Bumblebee sighed as he took a seat next to Sari and brought up his datapad again. Still no response.

“Are you okay?” The sudden question  startled Bumblebee out of his  moping and  when he looked up, he was met by Sari.

“Huh?” He asked. 

“Are. you. okay?” Sari repeated, “You’ve got a look on your face like someone just died, and you haven't stopped staring at your datapad even once since you sat down." 

“Ah, yeah I’m okay.” He said, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile as she moved closer to him.

“Do you wanna watch cartoons?” She asked, to which Bumblebee gave her a quick nod.  _ ‘Maybe focusing on something else for a bit will make me feel less anxious _ .’ he reasoned with himself.

Though, as multiple episodes came and went, he found it impossible to really absorb anything that was happening. Everytime he almost succeeded in shifting focus to the television, he'd be drawn back to the datapad in his lap and begin obsessively checking for new messages. He hadn’t even registered that he was doing it until Sari suddenly turned around and called him out on it.

“Come on Bee, you’re not even watching!” She said sourly. Caught in the act, Bumblebee abruptly put down his datapad and pretended to be engrossed in the TV.

“Yes I am.” He said, crossing his digits behind his back. Sari just gave him a light scowl.

“No, you’re not! You keep looking at your datapad! What’s so important that you have to look at it every second?” Bumblebee went quiet for a moment and gave their surroundings a cursory glance. 

Unfortunately, it seemed that the whole team had decided to hang out in the living room that day, so there was no way he could straight up tell her what was bothering him. Sure, everyone was doing their own thing at the moment, but if even one of them just happened to eavesdrop on their conversation then his and Blitzwing’s whole relationship could be discovered. Bumblebee stayed silent for a moment longer as he tried to come up with a plan.

“Hey Sari, I heard about this new ice cream shop in town, they sell  _ neapolitan ice cream  _ there. Wanna go and check it out?” Sari just looked confused.

“But it’s freezing outside why would-” Her eyes widened as it suddenly hit her, “Oh, ‘ _neapolitan ice cream’”_ she said, putting even more emphasis on than Bumblebee had as she gave him a wink. Bumblebee winked back, glad that she was willing to play along. “Sure, sounds like fun.” she said, both of them standing up and Sari quickly ran off to get her winter coat and boots.

“Me and Sari are gonna go for a short drive.” Bumblebee declared to anyone within earshot before he transformed, letting Sari inside and drove off before anyone had a chance to object. 

* * *

He'd known something was off with Blitzwing as soon as he'd returned, the Decepticon leader mused as he leisurely made his way towards the main monitor. He'd felt it, but it hadn’t been a noticeable cause for concern, so he'd simply ignored the signs.

No, if anything he'd simply assumed that Blitzwing's imprisonment was to blame for his recent change, perhaps even helping to 'stabilize' his more erratic behavior. But it was quickly becoming clear that it wasn't the imprisonment that had affected him. It was that  _ Autobot _ . Megatron curled his still energon stained servos into fists.

To say that he was angry wasn't even close to describing the depths of his fury. He was  _ livid _ . Blitzwing had lied to him.  _ Blitzwing  _ of all mechs had been going behind his back and he hadn’t even known about it before  _ yesterday _ . 

Who knew what secrets Blitzwing might've shared with the minibot in all that time. Megatron scowled. If it ended up coming to light that Blitzwing's stupidity had endangered their future plans then he'd make the triple changer  _ wish _ Megatron had killed him. With that thought in mind, Megatron activated the base's monitor.

Still, Blitzwing, though unquestionably insane, had never been anything but fiercely loyal. He'd been there when Megatron had been little more than a head, and it had been Blitzwing himself that had used the key's power to return the Decepticon leader to his former glory. No, Blitzwing had never shown any inclinations towards treachery like his former second in command. He was certainly unhinged, but not disloyal. What  _ was _ worrying though was the possibility that the Autobot had somehow managed to use Blitzwing’s instability to trick or confuse him. Blitzwing's mental state had never been particularly good, so it wasn't that far of a stretch to believe that he could be taken advantage of.

However, Blitzwing had insisted that it was actually  _ he _ who was tricking the Autobot, not the other way around, so that was still a possibility. Maybe he really had been telling the truth, maybe Blitzwing really was using the Autobot for information and there'd simply been some kind of miscalculation in that fragged up processor of his. 

He didn't have to wait long before the monitor informed him of an incoming call. Megatron pressed the answer button and soon the screen was filled with Shockwave's familiar visage.

“Ah Shockwave, right on time as usual.” Megatron said with a grin. 

“Greetings Lord Megatron, how may I be of service?” Shockwave said, giving a respectful bow.

“Shockwave, I require information about one of the Autobots currently stationed on earth.” A good bit of his earlier irritation bled into his words, but if Shockwave picked up on his leader's foul mood, he had the tactfulness not to mention it.

“Of course my lord.” He said, leaning over his almost comically small keyboard, “May I inquire as to the reason for this request?” Megatron's optics narrowed.

“Recently, the yellow minibot has become a thorn in my side. A thorn that I’m just about to remove.” he said with a sneer. The taping abruptly stopped for a moment and Shockwave's single optic actually seemed to widen at the mention of a  _ yellow minibot _ .

“This minibot… Does it happen to have two horns and a black stripe over its chest?” Well, that wasn’t the response Megatron had been expecting. 

“You know of him?” Shockwave let out a light chuckle.

“Yes, I suppose you could say that, but he’s more like a stubborn nightmare that refuses to leave my memory banks.” He continued typing for a moment, a list of known information and a single picture soon appearing in the corner of the screen. “Is this who you speak of?” The spy asked, Megatron spared the picture a quick glance before nodding in conformation.

“That's him.” 

Megatron then turned his attention back to Shockwave. “I want you to tell me everything you know about him, his name, his personality, his known behaviour. Everything. ”

Shockwave nodded obediently. “His designation is Bumblebee. He’s a stubborn, foolish individual and he's got an abonoxus personality. During the short time we shared in boot camp, he would go on and on about how much he wanted to be accepted by the elite guard, so he could ‘be a hero’ as he put it. Still, aside from his  _ many  _ shortcomings, he possesses a strong sense of loyalty and would seemingly do anything for the people he considers friends.”

Megatron absorbed all this with a quiet stoicism. Shockwave's description of the minibot wasn’t particularly surprising, but with every word spoken Megatron only gained more confidence in his upcoming plan. Yes, everything seemed to be falling into place.

“Do you think he’s capable of manipulation?” Shockwave looked both caught off guard, and slightly amused by the question. 

“In my personal opinion, I'd say he’s as capable of manipulation as Starscream is of loyalty." He said, "Not only would I consider him  _ incapable _ of manipulation, but I can say from experience that he’s quite easily manipulated himself. During my early days as an undercover operative, I was actually able to trick him into incarcerating an innocent Autobot.”

Well, that certainly put a smirk on the warlord's face. This description at the very least confirmed that this “Bumblebee” hadn’t tricked Blitzwing and it really was as the triple changer had said. Perhaps Blitzwing really was fooling the little Autobot, and his logic circuits had simply failed him. Well, whatever his true intentions, Megatron was about to  get  to the bottom of things. Blitzwing might have created this mess, but Megatron would be the one to set things straight.

Of course, Blitzwing would still have to be closely monitored in the meantime, he could still be lying and be a traitor, but within the next solar cycle, Megatron expected to have his answer. 

“Is this information sufficient?” Shockwave asked calmly, Megatron nodded his affirmative.

“Yes, you've exceeded my expectations once again Shockwave. Well done.” Shockwave gave another short bow.

“I will always do my utmost to serve both you and our cause.” Megatron waited for him to finish before giving him a nod and ending the call.

He then activated his commlink, “Lugnut." He said, "Retrieve professor Sumdac and bring him to me.” Lugnut appeared a moment later with the professor grasped firmly in his servo.

Having served his purpose, Megatron then ignored Lugnut in favor of the human he held.

“How extensive was Blitzwing’s damage?” He asked, his voice a chilling baritone.

“W-well, his life isn’t in any danger.” Sumdac began, “A-and I was able to get his leg back in some semblance of working order, but it'll be a couple of days before it's fully repaired.” Sumdac then broke eye contact and seemed to sag tiredly, “Unfortunately there's little I can do for his hand. The damage was severe and it could take weeks before it's restored. The rest of his injuries will be dealt with by his self repair." Professor Sumdac sighed, "The only thing left is the damage to his throat, I can't be sure exactly, but it seems to have taken significant damage, and he's having trouble using his voice but that too should sort itself out.” Megatron listened to every word with a stoney expression, seemingly unbothered by the description of Blitzwing's injuries. His optics said everything, Blitzwing deserved it. Why should he care that one of his soldiers was facing a long, painful recovery? Blitzwing had brought this on himself. 

“His servo can wait.” Megatron replied matter-of-factly, “He does have two after all, he’ll simply have to make due with the one he’s got.” Sumdac began fidgeting nervously under the warlord's gaze, cautiously debating if he should voice his own doubts. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally worked up the courage to speak. 

“You really hurt him,” He said softly, “I honestly believe if you had... _ strangled _ him for much longer you might've even killed him.” Before Megatron could voice his own opinions on the matter, Lugnut blew up on his behalf.

“How dare you speak to our leader with such disrespect! You filthy little organic!” Lugnut cried, tightening his grip and causing Sumdac to release a pained groan. Megatron calmly held up a servo, silently instructing Lugnut to cease. He then turned to address Sumdac's unwanted comment.

“Blitzwing is much tougher than that." Megatron scoffed, "If he'd actually lost consciousness while I was strangling him I'd have stopped and simply used a different method to continue his punishment.” Megatron then leaned down, his red optics close enough to reflect Sumdac's fearful expression. “I have invested many resources into his continued function." He growled, "He’s the only triple changer in existence, I had him purposely made to aid our cause. To lose such a rare commodity would be such a shame and waste; especially, when there's still the possibility of getting him back in 'working order'.” Megatron's optics turned cold as he regarded the professor, and with a threatening tone, he continued. “For future reference Professor, I would suggest that you keep your meaningless opinions to yourself.” Megatron then rose back to his full height and turned to address Lugnut.

“Lock Sumdac back in his cage Lugnut, and be sure to keep the Constructicons away from both the entrance and Blitzwing." He said, as he turned to walk away. "Oh, and be sure to keep a close optic on your three faced college Lugnut, we wouldn't want him trying to contact anyone.”

* * *

“So you’re worried because he hasn’t responded?” Sari asked, as she took a sip of the hot chocolate she'd recently bought at a corner stand. They'd found a free spot on one of the park beaches, and Bumblebee had just been giving her a quick rundown of the situation.

“Yeah…” Bumblebee sighed, “Like, I know he's got a life of his own, and he's got all kinds of stuff to do, but he really should've texted or something by now.” He said, leaning his cheek on his closed fist and looking out at the other park goers as they passed by. Sari took another sip of her hot chocolate before putting in her own two cents.

“Well, maybe his datapad is broken or something?” She suggested, “Or maybe it's just a bad time right now, and he'll check in later.” 

“Maybe…” Bumblebee mumbled gloomily.

“Why don’t _you_ just call him?" She asked, tired of Bumblebee shooting down her ideas, Bumblebee gave her suggestion barely a second thought before he rejected it. 

“If I call him, and someone overhears, I might just get him in trouble. I don't want to put him in danger just because I'm worried.”

“Then maybe just message him again, and let him know that you’re worried. I texted him right in the middle of the day last time, and he ended up responding.” 

“Yeah, but it'd still be risky, and I don’t want to look like a worrywart.” Bumblebee huffed, "I’m the fun bot! If I wanted to be a worrywart then I'd just paint myself red and blue and walk around calling myself Optimus 2.0!" They both shared a laugh at that mental image; before Sari suddenly seemed to light up.

“Hey, can I see your datapad for a second?” She asked, making grabby hands towards the minibot. Noticing the mischievous grin she appeared to be trying to hide, Bumblebee narrowed his optics. 

“Why?” he asked suspiciously, 

“Just give it to me,” Sari said, still attempting to hide her smile. “C’mon, It will be great!” It took Bumblebee a moment for it all to click.

“Wait, a second... as soon as I hand it over you'll just message him yourself. Won’t you!?” Sari tried her best to look innocent and put on an almost offended expression.

“Me?! Why I'd never!” She tried to say sternly, but the image was somewhat ruined by the small giggles that escaped her mouth. Bumblebee smiled smugly at her and just shook his helm. Realizing that she'd been caught in the act, Sari finally surrendered. 

“Okay, maybe I was.” She admitted, “But if you’re not going to message him, and you're not going to call him either, then you’ll just have to wait until later tonight to try sending another 'goodnight message'. And If that doesn't work, you'll be stuck waiting around until this weekend when you have your date.” As much as Bumblebee hated to admit it, Sari did have a point. There really wasn't anything he could do other than the two options she'd already listed. Well, unless Blitzwing suddenly decided to show up in person. 

Bumblebee was just about to voice these thoughts out loud when he suddenly felt the wind pick up. Leaves that only moments before had been scattered across the ground quickly became airborne, and even the trees that lined the sidewalk began swaying ominously as a foreboding “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh” sound filled the air. 

Bumblebee saw several nearby humans stop what they were doing in favor of pointing upwards. Their expression's a mixture of curiosity and unease.

Bumblebee followed their fingers with his optics. It took him squinting into the wind for a moment, but it wasn't long before he registered what had caught their collective attention, and in that instant, he felt his frame go cold.

Because, there above them was a bi rotor helicopter. Bumblebee immediately recognized the helicopter for what it was and the first clear thought in his helm was simply:  _ ‘Please don’t be who I think it is.’ _ Unfortunately, his meager hope that the helicopter could belong to a human pilot, or even some random Decepticon, was dashed when the helicopter suddenly transformed into the intimidating figure of Megatron. He hit the ground with a resounding thud, kicking up leaves and small rocks in his wake and leaving behind a small crater where he'd made touchdown. 

Running on pure instinct at this point, Bumblebee quickly put himself between Sari and the Decepticon leader, basically acting as shield. 

Meanwhile, all the humans that had been in the area began to panic. People were screaming and running off in all directions as the crowd quickly descended into chaos. Some tried to escape in their cars while others ran into nearby shops to take shelter. 

The park eventually became nothing more than a confusing blur of color and sound, but Bumblebee didn’t spare a single thought to the surrounding havoc. No, his entire focus was reserved exclusively for the Decepticon leader.

Megatron himself was the picture of composure as he stood to his full height and walked out of the small divet he'd made in the earth. Immediately, his optics sought out Bumblebee's position, his lips forming a truly ominous smile as he stared down the minibot.

“Perfect.” He said, his voice unable to fully mask the cruelty of his intentions. “Just the Autobot I wanted to see”

Bumblebee didn’t need to be an elite guard tactician to know that he had less than a zero percent chance of walking out of this the winner. Even if every member of team prime had been here to back him up, it'd still be a wildly uneven match. Defeating Megatron in a group was almost impossible, but the notion that he could somehow beat Megatron all by himself was nothing short of a fever dream. Bumblebee might be impulsive, but he wasn’t delusional!

Realizing that he had little time if he wanted to get Sari to safety, he quickly scooped her into his arms and took off running as fast as his legs could carry him. He was just in the process of activating his com link when Megatron's voice broke through the throng of chaos.

“Your name is Bumblebee, correct?”

The sudden question had Bumblebee stopping dead in his tracks. Slowly, and and with a certain amount of trepidation, he turned around. The Decepticon warlord was still just standing there, staring at him. 

Bumblebee felt his tank churn with anxiety, ’ _ W-why does he know my name?'  _ He thought with a growing sense of panic, _ 'I don't think he even knows Boss bots real name.'  _ He scanned Megatron from top to bottom, hoping to gain an inkling as to what Megatron was playing at. But despite his best efforts, the Decepticon leader revealed nothing of his hidden motives. Instead he just stood there casually, the relative calmness with which he regarded the minibot sending chills down Bumblebee's frame.

_ ‘Why isn’t he attacking?’  _ He wondered, ‘ _ And why is he even here? Usually he just sends Blitzwing and Lugnut to do his dirty work. What was so important that it actually made him get off his aft and do something himself?’  _

He hadn’t even said anything yet, but his continued silence as well as the fact that he'd stopped, was all the proof Megatron needed to confirm his suspicions. Slowly, a less than comforting smile spread across the warlord's lips. Bumblebee was still terrified of what this could all mean, but he silently resolved to put on a brave face as he responded.

“Yeah?! What of it?!” He yelled back. Megatron just continued to look at him with that same unnerving smirk. Bumblebee was starting to get seriously worried. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Megatron wouldn’t be out here doing this type of thing for no reason,  _ everything _ Megatron did had an explicit purpose. So, why was he here?! Theories and possible explanations just kept popping up inside his helm, each of them worse than the one before it. Noticing that Megatron was still watching him closely, Bumblebee unconsciously tried to straighten his back and put on a brave face. The uncomfortable silence lingered a moment longer before the Decepticon leader deigned to give him a response.

“Blitzwing has talked a lot about you.” He said casually, a small hint of malicious joy dancing at the edge of his voice as he took in the minibot's shocked expression. For Bumblebee himself, It felt as if the world had just stopped. Bumblebee just stared at him, his jaw slightly agape and his optics wide.  _ ‘What did he mean by that?’  _ Megatron's words echoed in his audio receptors and his spark pulsed anxiously as the feeling of dread only grew stronger. ‘ _ H-has something happened to Blitzwing?’  _ No, he quickly shook that idea out of his mind. Blitzwing was both smart  _ and _ strong enough to take care of himself, he was fine. Megatron was just trying to trick him or something, there was no way that anything he was saying was true.

“W-why would he talk about me?” Bumblebee said, trying to sound confident and confused.

“You don’t know?” Megatron asked. Honestly, at this point Bumblebee wasn't sure if he was seriously asking, or not. Either way, Bumblebee chose to play dumb and treat it as a serious question.

“N-no, why would I know why that m-maniac talks about me? It's not like I'm his friend or anything!” Primus, the word maniac left a bad taste in Bumblebee's mouth. He knew logically that Blitzwing wouldn't blame him for attempting to keep their cover by using such words, but Bumblebee mentally promised himself he'd make it up to him the next chance he got.

Besides, he and Blitzwing had agreed almost immediately after starting their relationship that it was necessary to keep up a facade of hatred towards each other when they were out in public and at work. It was common sense that no one else be told about their arrangement to protect themselves and each other, and in the case they  _ were _ caught, they already decided they would deny everything and not reveal anything. There was no way Blitzwing had willingly talked about Bumblebee, especially not to Megatron. It just wasn’t possible! This had to be a trick!

“Oh, that will be  _ so _ disappointing for poor Blitzwing to hear.” Megatron said, his words oozing with fake sympathy. “ _ Especially  _ after he kept insisting that you were coming to  _ save  _ him.” Bumblebee felt his entire thought process come to a grinding halt. It might've been chaos a mere second ago, but right now his insides felt as if they'd been frozen.

“What… What do you mean?” Bumblebee asked numbly.

“Oh, nothing.” Megatron said, as if his last statement hadn't just shattered Bumblebee's reality. “He just kept screaming your name over and  _ over again, pleading  _ and _ begging  _ for you to come and save him.” Megatron's optics narrowed in sadistic glee, “It seems his trust in you was severely...misplaced.” Bumblebee just stared at the warlord, slowly processing what he'd been told. But as the words slowly started to sink in, the fear he'd felt so strongly only a moment ago began to flake away to make way for a new emotion. Unbridled rage. Shaking with anger at this point, he placed Sari down on the ground before turning back to the warlord.

“What did you do... What did you do to him!?” Bumblebee screamed, his words loud enough to be heard several streets away. Megatron just raised an optic ridge. 

“Why so angry all of a sudden?" He asked with a smirk, "I thought you said you  _ weren’t _ his friend, why are you getting so upset over that freak?”

Bumblebee curled his servo into fists as he glared daggers at the Decepticon leader. He was so angry, but more than that he was worried. But, this time it wasn't for Sari or his own safety, it was for Blitzwing's. His boyfriend, the mech that he loved with his whole spark. ‘ _ He could still be lying!  _ ’ Bumblebee thought fervently,  _ ‘He might be fine. Blitzwing was strong and Megatron was known for playing with his victims. Don’t fall for it!’  _ If this was really a trick, as Bumblebee so desperately hoped it was, then his emotional reactions would only put Blitzwing in more danger if he wasn't already.

It was then that he noticed the pink smears coating Megatron's servos and suddenly everything felt horrifyingly real. For a moment he just stood there quietly, his thoughts turbulent as he desperately tried to deny the truth. _‘N-no... that’s not possible.’_ He thought as his mind processed what the energon stains could possibly mean _‘This has to be some kind of nightmare! I don't want to be a part of this anymore!’_ He was going to wake up any minute now in his berth. He's going to see that Blitzwing actually did respond, and he'd just been having a bad dream. He can tell him all about the weird dream he had! Maybe they'll even have a good laugh over how ludicrous the whole thing was! Blitzwing was alive and well! He was fine! He just had to be! 

“W-who’s energon is that?” He asked finally, his rage once again put on hold  as he was  faced with the undeniable truth coating Megatron's digits, but despite that he had one last thread of hope it wasn’t what he thought it was, or wasn’t from  _ who _ he thought it was. Megatron himself seemed unbothered by the question as he brought up his servos; turning and flexing them as if he were simply admiring them. 

“It’s not mine, I can tell you that much.” Megatron replied calmly. Bumblebee scowled

“Who’s. Energon?” he asked again in a more stern tone. Megatron's optics narrowed at being addressed so disrespectfully, but he remained otherwise nonplussed. 

“I think you know.” 

It was then that Bumblebee's world finally came crashing down around him. There was no point in arguing with himself any more. This really was happening. Bumblebee's optics narrowed as an anger like he'd never felt before slowly consumed him. Nothing else mattered in that moment, white hot fury having drowned out everything else. 

“You glitch!” Bumblebee screamed, “You fragging glitch! What did you do to him!?” Megatron gave no outside reaction to Bumblebee's outburst, but in the depths of his optics there was a hint of sadistic glee. 

“Are you ready to stop lying now?” He asked, his voice still irritatingly calm as his lips formed a satisfied smirk, “Blitzwing stopped lying to me as well after our little  _ chat. _ ” The emphasis on the word “chat” had Bumblebee’s spark pulsing with fear as ideas of what  _ chat _ could be referring to bombarded his processor. 

“What did you do to him?! If you've laid one digit on him I swear-!” Megatron's smirk abruptly dropped from his face as he cut off Bumblebee's tirade.

“If you don’t want him to die, then you’ll shut your mouth and listen to what I have to say.” Bumblebee’s optics widened. He balled his servos tight fists, and he felt as if his dente might crack from how hard he was clinching his jaw, but he forced himself to keep silent. Both of them already knew that Megatron was holding all the cards, but even with fear for Blitzwing keeping him mute, he still had enough spirit left to glare hatefully at the warlord.

“That’s better.” Megatron purred, smugness practically dripping from his words. “Now this is how the situation is going to go. You have two choices” Megatron said, holding up one digit for emphasis. “Number one, you turn around and run, run as fast as you can. I won’t even chase you, or option two-” He said, raising a second digit. “You come with me.” Bumblebees optics narrowed in suspicion.

“Why, in the name of Primus would I choose option two?” 

Megatron almost seemed humored by his question.

“Because if you don't, I'll just kill him.” 

Bumblebee felt as if the ground had given way under his peds as he let the words wash over him. Every bit of rage he'd managed to accumulate slowly drained out of him as he looked into the warlord's optics and realized how serious this all was, and what power had suddenly been laid in the minibots servos.

“The choice is yours, I won’t judge you.” He said in a cruel mockery of comfort, “He’s just some worthless, unhinged, _freak_ after all. Even _he_ knows that. I'm sure he'd understand if you left him to his fate. After all, he’s been alone, unloved, and uncared for _such_ a long time. He’s probably used to being abandoned by now.” In the back of Bumblebee's processor he knew that Megatron was only saying those things because it would be the best way to manipulate him. He'd obviously worked out that his best bet at influencing Bumblebee's choice was to tug at his spark strings and make him feel as bad as possible, but Primus damn it if it wasn’t working. His mind kept showing him mental images of Blitzwing laying somewhere alone, hurt, and slowly losing hope that anyone was coming for him. Images of him hopelessly starting to believe that Bumblebee had actually just up and abandoned him, that Bumblebee had never actually loved him at all, that he'd really just been discarded as if he meant nothing.

"If…” Bumblebee swallowed thickly, his voice wavering, "If I go with you... Will you let him live?”

“Bumblebee!” Sari screamed, her high pitched voice filled with distress. Megatron actively chose to ignore the interruption.

“Then I’ll give him a chance to live”

“Only a chance? Will I even get to see him?” 

“I'll let you see him, but whether he survives or not will depend entirely on him.” Bumblebee's mind was in total chaos at this point. Who was to say Megatron would even honor his word? Could he afford to risk Blitzwing's safety by calling his bluff? 

Suddenly, he felt something tugging on his arm. He looked down and found Sari staring up at him with worry in her eyes.

“You’re not actually considering it are you?" She asked, "Please tell me you’re not thinking of going with him!” Bumblebee looked from Sari's pleading expression to the intimidating figure of the Decepticon leader. Megatron was still just standing there, his expression giving away nothing as he continued to observe the small scene in front of him.

He seriously debated his options for a moment longer, but eventually he slumped out of his guarded position and let out a shaky sigh.

“Okay...” 

His voice was resigned, and as he prepared to submit himself to Megatron he tried to shake himself out of Sari's hands. He didn't get far though, because almost immediately afterwards, he felt a stronger jerk on his arm and he realised that Sari had no intention of letting go without a fight. “Sari…” He said, his voice trembling, “Y-you need to let go.” Sari violently shook her head.

“No!” She screamed, tightening her grip. Bumblebee gently tried to pry her off, but it was turning out to be a real challenge.

“Sari you need to let go, I have to-” He didn’t get to finish.

“No!” she yelled, no longer caring to hear his reasoning. “I  _ promised  _ him that I'd stop you from doing stupid things when he wasn't around, and right now you're being stupid!” Sari locked eyes with him and it was only then that Bumblebee noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks “So stop it!” She cried. Bumblebee felt his spark break as he realized just how much this was upsetting her. He never meant to make her cry, but he couldn't just forget about Blitzwing. He'd never be able to live with himself if he let Blitzwing die when he knew all along he could've done something. He just had to go, no matter how much he knew his decision would hurt both Sari and the rest of his team. 

“He won't be around at all if I don’t.” Bumblebee replied softly, “And I can't just leave him to die. So, Please Sari, please let me go.” Bumblebee begged, Sari just shook her head more frantically.

“If we run at least you’ll live, but if I let you go then both of you might die! I don’t want you to die!” She screamed, her breath hitching with sobs, “If you save him, then who's going to save you?!” It was with a heavy spark that Bumblebee realised he'd never be able to make her let go willingly. So, after letting out another weary sigh, he turned towards Megatron; the warlord had crossed his arms and was simply watching the commotion with disinterest.

“Just give me a moment.” 

Before he could think too much about what he was about to do, Bumblebee grabbed Sari around her waist and pulled her off. He then searched the surrounding area for a spot to put her; his optics catching sight of a recently abandoned car.

As soon as he'd picked her up, Sari immediately started kicking and screaming bloody murder.

“Put me down! Put me  _ down _ ! I'm not letting you go anywhere!” Bumblebee just looked down and gave her a feeble smile.

“Everything will be okay.” He tried, but Sari wouldn't listen.

“You’re lying! You promised you wouldn’t lie to me anymore!” She screamed, biting and clawing at his servo in a desperate attempt to make him let go of her. She only succeeded hurting her teeth and making her jaw ache, but her actions still went a long way in expressing just how upset she was.

Bumblebee finally got to the end of his shot trek and approached the car. He noticed the doors were locked, but with a swift jerk of the handle he forced one of them open and tossed Sari into the back seat. The car was an older model and it appeared to be equipped with one of those autolocking mechanisms that could lock down the entire vehicle with a single button push. So, after pressing the necessary switch, he threw the door shut and began welding it into place so that Sari wouldn’t be able to follow him.

Sari immediately began beating her fists against the window, her expression an awful mix of desperation and betrayal.

“Don’t go! Please don’t go! If you go I’ll delete all your save files! She cried, her eyes overflowing with tears as she both threatened and begged for him not to go with Megatron.

Everything was suddenly too much to bear, and with a heavy spark Bumblebee realised he couldn’t hold back anymore as tears began flooding his own optics. With hitching breaths he tried to get himself under control, knowing that his display of emotion would only upset Sari further.

“I’m sorry..." he said, hoping she could hear how genuinely remorseful he was, "I’m so, so sorry. I’ll call the others and they’ll come and let you out, okay? You won't be alone for much longer, everything's going to be okay.” Sari was well past the point of coherent speech at this point as she began wailing. Her cries high pitched and distraught as she finally broke down completely. 

Bumblebee felt as if his spark was tearing itself apart as he watched her. He never should have taken her with him today. If he hadn’t, then maybe he could've spared her the heartbreaking reality of watching her best friend being taken away. 

He forced his lips into one final bright smile, not wanting her last memory of him to be of his tear stained face.

“I love you  a lot . Please tell the rest of the team that I’m sorry and that I will miss them.”

Sari didn’t respond this time, her sobbing having hit a crescendo as she continued to beat her small fists against the glass. 

He then forced himself to turn away from her and walk back to where Megatron was waiting. As he did, he opened his personal comm link to Bulkhead, not feeling strong enough to speak to everyone else, as he pitifully wiped his tears with the back of his fist.

“Hey Bulkhead.” He said, trying to sound normal even as he walked to what might as well be his own execution. “Can you come to the park and pick up Sari for me?” His feeble attempt at a normal tone seemed to backfire as Bulkhead responded.

“Why?” He asked, already sounding deeply concerned. Bumblebee just let out a shaky sigh.

“Because after I leave she'll be all alone, so you'll have to come and pick her up and bring her back to base yourself.”

“Leave? Wait, where are you going?” Bulkhead asked, his voice only sounding more confused.

“I-I don’t know.” Bumblebee finally admitted, his voice failing him as it became increasingly strained.

“...What?” 

“I-I don’t know!” He shouted.

“What’s going on? I-I don’t understand Bee. What’s going on?!” Bulkhead sounded frantic. 

“I’m sorry...” He didn’t even know what he was apologising for, but he just couldn't think of anything else to say. “I-I’m so sorry Bulk...”

“Bee what's wrong?! Please tell me what’s happening!”

“I just have to go, please just come and pick up Sari, she’s really upset and after I'm gone she'll be all alone.”

“Bee just stay where you are! Whatever's going on we can help you! Just stay on-” Bumblebee ended the call. If he listened any longer he might just lose his resolve and he couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t afford to hesitate right now. Blitzwing was depending on him and Bumblebee  _ would _ save him.

Little by little, the space between them diminished until Bumblebee was left looking straight up at the Decepticon leader. Megatron's frame blocked a good percentage of the sun's rays, and now that he was standing in his shadow, Bumblebee realised just how vast their difference in size was. For all his earlier bravado, Bumblebee was left feeling rather like a frightened mouse staring down a hungry tiger.

They locked optics, and for a moment everything remained silent, before Bumblebee broke the tension by opening his mouth.

“Primus, you are hard to look at. You just get uglier the closer you get.” His voice wasn't as confident as he would've liked, but he did succeed in making Megatron optic twitch, so that was a nice consolation prize.

“Have you made up your mind?” Megatron growled darkly. Bumblebee swallowed past his own feelings of sorrow and helplessness as he forced himself to meet Megatron's optics with a look of determination.

“Take me to him.” Megatron didn’t respond, and Bumblebee barely had time to register what was happening before Megatron's fist connected with his faceplate. His whole faceplate and helm flared with pain, that was the last thing he remembered before everything went black.


	11. Do or die

When Bumblebee awoke, it was to an awful pounding in his helm and the  _ lovely _ sensation of being carelessly dropped to the hard floor. He let out a startled yelp as he hit the ground, more out of surprise then any real pain, and for a moment he just laid there groaning. 

When he eventually did manage to open his optics, it was to the realization that he was laying facedown on a rough surface. The ground underneath his servos was jagged and uneven, and when he looked up, he noticed that what he'd first assumed to be a normal wall was actually an intentionally carved out tunnel. 

It was just as Bumblebee was sitting up that he realised he had no memory of how he'd gotten here. None of this seemed familiar, and Bumblebee was pretty sure he'd remember if he'd ever been in a place like this. However, he was suddenly pulled from these musings as a dark voice suddenly cut through the silence.

“We’re here.” Bumblebee abruptly jerked in the direction of the unknown voice; his optics widening as he realised Megatron was standing right next to him, flanked closely by Lugnut. Both of them were staring down at him with thinly veiled contempt.

Reflexively, Bumblebee got up and pressed his back against the wall and began sizing up the two cons as memories of the previous day started coming back to him.

Just by giving them a cursory look over, it was clear neither of the cons were glad to see him. Lugnut in particular was l glaring daggers at him, and as for Megatron himself, he seemed to be regarding him with a mask of cold indifference. Still, neither had shown any signs of attacking, so that was at least some good news.

Concluding that he was likely safe for the moment, Bumblebee forced himself to step away from the wall and activated his HUD; hoping to at least get an idea of where he was. Unfortunately, all that greeted him was a blank screen.

“If you’re attempting to see your location, I will tell you right now that it’s pointless.” Megatron said, his words causing Bumblebee to freeze in place. “You'll also find that using your commlink is impossible. I've gone to great lengths to have this area cloaked, and unless you can shout loud enough for your team to hear, you can forget about them coming to rescue you.” 

Having already verified for himself that what he was saying was true, Bumblebee turned back to the Decepticon leader and began looking him over. Immediately, his optics were drawn to the pink smears still coating Megatron's servos and he could feel a familiar rage bubbling up inside him. 

It was this anger that finally helped clear away the haze of fear. 

“Where's Blitzwing?” Bumblebee asked sternly, his servos tightening into fists at his sides. “You said I'd get to see him if I came with you! So, where is he, you glitch?!” His voice gradually grew into a shout, and it was as he stood there, defiantly staring down the leader of the Decepticon's, that Bumblebee realised he no longer cared about his own safety.

He'd already known that the second he agreed to Megatron's terms that he was basically signing his own death warrant, and at this point he honestly didn't really think there was much he could do to make the situation worse.

Megatron, himself didn’t seem particularly affected by his insults, as he continued to watch him with vague disinterest. But even if his insults were barely registered by their intended target, they still managed to infuriate Lugnut. All five of his optics widened, before immediately narrowing in anger as he glared down at the minibot. 

“How  _ dare _ you speak to Lord Megatron with such disrespect! Why you little vermin, I’ll rip out your very spark!” He roared. Bumblebee just narrowed his own optics and scowled up at the big oaf.

“Don’t you threaten me, frag face!" He snapped, "I swear if you've done anything to Blitzwing I’ll rip off both your oversized helms!”

Lugnut almost seemed taken aback by Bumblebee's inability to be cowed, but his bewilderment quickly turned to anger as he began shaking with barely contained fury.

“Disrespectful little Autobot...“ Lugnut growled, taking a menacing step forward.

Realizing he might've bitten off more than he could chew, Bumblebee tried to back away from the angered warframe, his steps coming to an abrupt halt as he backed into the cave wall. But thankfully, before Lugnut could get close enough to exact his revenge, Megatron calmly held up a servo in a silent motion for him to stop. 

Faced with this command, Lugnut reluctantly backed away from the minibot and looked to his leader for direction. 

“Lugnut, why don’t you go retrieve Blitzwing and bring him here to meet our…  _ guest. _ ” Megatron said, his voice chilling. 

”Of course my lord, as you command!” Lugnut shouted, making a deep bow and he hurried down one of the caves branching tunnels. 

Bumblebee watched him run off with a scowl. The way he catered to Megatron's every whim was just pathetic, it was no wonder Blitzwing was always complaining about him. 

Eventually, the larger mech disappeared from his line of sight and Bumblebee returned to scowling hatefully at the Decepticon leader, who seemed to pay it little mind.

“Now, there's something I wanted to ask you.” Megatron said, staring down at Bumblebee expectantly, “What did Blitzwing have to offer that made you so ready to die for him? Why should the fate of some mentally unstable Decepticon concern you?” Bumblebee crossed his arms over his chest plate and shot Megatron a nasty look at the implied sentiment that he'd only stayed with Blitzwing because he'd been  _ bribed _ .

“It’s called loving someone and being loved. You ever heard of it?” He asked sarcastically, “Although, I guess it'd make sense if you didn't, with looks and a personality like  _ that _ , I'd be surprised if anyone ever loved you.” 

The smug satisfaction that had been practically oozing from Megatron abruptly evaporated, and Bumblebee gave himself a mental pat on the back for wiping that smirk off his face.

Fortunately for Bumblebee, he was saved from whatever retaliation Megatron might've had planned by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps.

The sound quickly grew louder, and before long, two figures emerged from the darkened tunnel. 

Blitzwing was limping heavily as he leaned against Lugnut, who appeared to have very little sympathy for his comrade as he ushered the triple changer to where Bumblebee and Megatron were waiting for them. 

Immediately, Bumblebee could feel himself grinning, as until this moment, he hadn’t even been sure if he'd even get to see his boyfriend alive. However, this relief was short-lived when they drew closer and Bumblebee got a better look at Blitzwing’s condition.

For a lack of a better word, Blitzwing looked  _ wrecked _ . A lot of his paint had been scratched off, and his plating was covered in large dents. One of his knees showed clear signs of recent repairs and his left servo looked as if I'd been put through a metal grinder. The beginning of repairs looked to have been attempted there too, but it still looked very,  _ very _ bad. like, Bumblebee seriously doubted he could even move it, bad. 

Blitzwing weakly raised his helm once they were close enough, and almost immediately, he locked optics with Bumblebees. At first, his optics widened in shock, but his expression quickly changed to an awful mixture of horror and shame.

Primus, he looked tired. Like, absolutely exhausted, there was no way the guy had gotten any recharge recently. He had a thin line of dried energon running down from his lips and every vent he drew in came with a wheezing crackle of air.

Blitzwing eventually shifted his gaze to the imposing form of Megatron, who regarded the triple changer with a stoney expression. Whatever the warlord had planned for the both of them, his calm facade gave away nothing. 

“Blitzwing!” Bumblebee shouted suddenly, his voice cutting through the tension as he prepared to rush to the triple changer side. He wanted so badly to hold him close and make sure he was alright, but he was jerked back almost immediately by a harsh grip on his upper arm. 

Bumblebee quickly turned to confront whatever was holding him back, and was met by Megatron's wickedly clawed digits as they dug into his plating. 

At this point Bumblebee had had enough. He'd been kidnapped, knocked out, and now he was being denied the one thing that could've made it all worth it. He was _livid._ Immediately, he began fighting to free himself by punching at the warlord's arm and clawing at his plating with his blunt digits. 

None of it seemed to phase the warlord, and the longer Bumblebee fought the more frenzied his attacks became.

“Let go of me!” Bumblebee screamed. 

Megatron finally seemed to be at the end of his patience, because his grip suddenly became a crushing force around Bumblebee's yellow plating. He slowly turned his gaze to Blitzwing and purposely squeezed until he'd forced a reluctant groan from his captive.

“Make him shut him up, or I’ll do it.” Megatron ordered, his optics full of deadly promise. 

It was the grimace of pain he could see slowly overtaking the minibot's features that finally snapped Blitzwing out of his internal struggle.

“Bumblebee, please be silent.” His words were spoken in a soft rasp, but there was no hiding the pleading look he shot Bumblebee as he silently begged him to stop fighting. 

Bumblebee quickly picked up on the unspoken urgency in Blitzwing's tone and stopped trying to break free. He didn't particularly like the idea of giving in so easily, but he trusted that Blitzwing would know better than he did, and he didn't want to be the reason Blitzwing was punished further. 

But by forcing Bumblebee to stand down, Blitzwing was providing the perfect opportunity for the minibot to catalog the damage he'd received, and it didn’t take long for him to take notice of the crushing dents encompassing Blitzwing’s throat. They'd clearly been made in the shape of a large servo, and it was obvious to Bumblebee just who had made them. 

Bumblebee had known beforehand that Blitzwing probably wouldn't be in great shape, but the blatant reminders of the pain he must've endured was almost too much for Bumblebee to bear. Just the thought that he must've been violently choked at some point made his spark ache terribly. 

_ He didn't deserve this _ . 

Bumblebee desperately wanted to hold him in his arms and assure him that everything would be okay now, but he pushed these emotions down and forced himself to stay still. Though the sight of those dents only increasing his rising urge to simpy turn around and punch Megatron right in his stupid, smug face.

Seemingly without warning, Megatron released his grip on Bumblebee's arm and seemed content to simply watch and wait for his next move. But if he was expecting Bumblebee to try running to Blitzwing again, he was surely disappointed; because Bumblebee remained rooted to the spot. He must've made the right choice too, because he could see Blitzwing's shoulders losing some of their nervous tension.

Seeing as Bumblebee wasn't going to take the bait, Megatron rose back to his full height and walked leisurely past Bumblebee as he switched focus to Blitzwing.

Blitzwing visibility stiffened as his leader approached and the minute tremors that occasionally crossed his frame had Bumblebee curling his servo into fists. He hated how Megatron was able to inspire such a visceral reaction in Blitzwing with his mere presence. 

You weren’t  _ supposed _ to be terrified of your leader! If you were then that leader was a failure. A leader was supposed to lead by example! They were meant to help you, support you, not whatever slag Megatron apparently had going on!

And sure, the Autobots leaders' weren't perfect, but never in his wildest dreams could Bumblebee imagine reacting with genuine fear when Optimus approached him. This whole situation just felt so backwards and unnatural! 

“He’s quite an…  _ energetic _ little thing isn’t he?” Megatron said smoothly, “I honestly don’t know how you managed to put up with him for so long.” Blitzwing didn’t respond, as he shamefully averted his optics.

Primus, Bumblebee hated it. He hated how small Blitzwing seemed as he weakly submitted. He hated seeing the fear he so desperately tried to hide. He hated knowing that the wounds still littering his frame were caused by the same mech that now loomed over him. He  _ hated _ Megatron. He hated this situation. he Hated that he was powerless to do anything about it. 

_ He hated that he might be forced to watch as Megatron hurt him again.  _

“But not to worry my dear Blitzwing," He Megatron continued, patting the triple changers cheek in a patronizing manner, "You won’t have to suffer it much longer.”

Blitzwing slowly raised his helm, his expression confused as he looked up. But Megatron disregarded his silent questioning as he abruptly turned and pointed at Bumblebee.

“Tell him the truth.”

Blitzwing's optic widened. “Pardon my lord…” He started, his voice still holding an edge of static. “I-I don’t think I quite underst-” Megatron optics narrowed into slits as he abruptly cut him off.

“Tell  _ him _ what you told  _ me _ ." He sneered, "Inform him of the true reason you’ve been spending time with a pathetic vermin like him.” The tension swelled,

“End this charade.” 

Blitzwing looked as if he'd genuinely been shocked into silence. His optics darted back to Bumblebee for a moment and he gave a dry swallow before he finally gathered enough courage to use his voice.

“My lord, I don’t see how my admittance will serve any benefit to the Decepti-”

“Did I ask for your opinion?” Megatron snarled, his tone immediately causing Blitzwing to shrink back in submission.

“No my lord.” He answered weakly.

“Then keep it to yourself. If I wanted to know what went on in that  _ fraged up _ processor of yours I would've asked.  _ Now _ , I gave you an order. So, stop your useless stalling and get on with it.” His tone made it clear there was no room for argument.

Blitzwing gave him a barely noticeable nod and Megatron stepped back so that Blitzwing would have no choice but to look at Bumblebee as he confessed. 

Bumblebee looked between Blitzwing and the warlord, feeling utterly confused. _‘The truth? The real reason? What are they talking about?’_ To Bumblebee none of this made any sense. Blitzwing had spent time with him because they loved each other. Bumblebee _knew_ that was the truth, so what the frag was Megatron talking about? What was going on?! 

Megatron seemed to notice his visible confusion and his lips curled into a wicked smile.

“You really have no idea what’s going on, do you?” Megatron asked. Bumblebee just scowled at the warlord, choosing to let his silence answer for him. 

Megatron just grinned wider.

“Oh, you poor little thing.” He said, his voice practically  _ oozing _ with false pity, “This whole ‘Love’ thing, it’s all a ruse.” 

Bumblebee's expression immediately turned to one of utter disbelief, but he quickly shook it off and bared his denta towards the Decepticon leader, his anger on full display. 

“You’re lying.” He snarled. If Megatron really thought he could get Bumblebee to forsake Blitzwing after a few lies, then he was a complete idiot. 

Blitzwing had demonstrated countless times that he was serious about their relationship. Why, Just a few days ago he'd been willing to bail on Megatron himself just to rescue him from Starscream! How could Bumblebee ever be convinced otherwise when he'd already seen just how far Blitzwing was willing to go to keep him safe? And when compared to all the times Blitzwing had quietly expressed his love as he held Bumblebee close, Megatron's words meant  _ nothing _ . 

“Oh really?” Meagtron asked, turning back to Blitzwing. “Am I lying?” Blitzwing remained still for a few moments before weakly shaking his helm. 

Megatron's optics narrowed, clearly displeased with such a feeble response.

“You’ve got a voice, don’t you?” He asked in a harsh tone, “You best make use of it and quickly explain it to him.” Blitzwing looked between Megatron and Bumblebee once more, clearly conflicted.

“H-he’s not lying.” He said at last, “It was all a trick.” Bumblebee just looked at him feeling completely dumbfounded.

“N-no that’s not possible...” He said, and in something of a daze as he let out a nervous chuckle. “I-I know that’s not true...” he said, voice trembling. 

Blitzwing shot Megatron a questioning glance, but had to immediately look away when he saw the cruelty in Megatron optics, one of his servos motioning for him to continue. 

“I never loved you.” His voice had become cold and emotionless. All the warmth that was usually present when he spoke to Bumblebee having vanished. The way he spoke now was more reminiscent of the tone he used when they'd first been thrown into Master Disaster's arena. 

“I only got close to you so I could use you." He continued, "You were never more than my puppet and I planned to leave you once I got what I wanted." 

“That’s not true… I- I know You don’t mean that!” Bumblebee cried, his voice becoming muddled by tears. 

_ ‘No, don’t cry now! You know that isn’t true! It-it’s just part of his plan to get us out of this mess, it's got to be! He's always got a plan! You know he doesn't mean it!’  _

But despite the rational part of his processor insisting that there were too many inconsistencies for his words to hold any truth, he couldn’t help second guessing himself as he was overwhelmed by grief. The insistence that their love had never been real stabbing him right in the spark. 

Blitzwing once again looked to Megatron with weary optics, his silent pleading for this to end ignored as Megatron continued to stare at him expectantly. Blitzwing sighed, his faceplate switching to Hothead as he reluctantly turned to face Bumblebee.

“I don't care about you. You've never been anything but my enemy!" He yelled _"I_ _hate you!”_

Bumblebee could feel those words reverb painfully in his spark, but he forced himself to shake off the hurt. Whatever Megatron was trying to pull by having Blitzwing puppet these things to him, Bumblebee refused to be sucked into it. 

“You’re lying.” Bumblebee said, his voice coming out stronger as he gained confidence. 

Blitzwing seemed to hesitate for a split second before continuing in a low growl. “Get it through your thick helm! I. Don't. Love. You. I don't care about-!”

“I know you’re lying!” Bumblebee shouted, no longer willing to stand here and listen as he hurt them both. 

Because Bumblebee didn’t believe a single word of it.

They'd been together too long, they'd gone through too much together. If this whole thing really had been a trick then he would've definitely figured it out by now!

They'd covered for each, saved each other, and created so many wonderful memories in the time they'd spent together. He knew some of Blitzwing’s darkest secrets and Blitzwing knew his! It was never about gathering information, they'd stayed together out of love! Bumblebee refused to believe anything else!

Bumblebee abruptly snapped his optics away from Blitzwing and turned the full force of his glare to the mech standing beside him. He knew exactly who had put those words into his boyfriend's mouth.

“You’re forcing him to say that!” Bumblebee screamed as he pointed an accusing digit at the warlord. “None of that's true and you’re forcing him to say it is!” Megatron shook his helm.

“I can assure you that I’m not.” he answered calmly, “You're hearing the truth right from the source, aren't you supposed to  _ trust _ and  _ believe _ in the people you  _ love _ ?”

“I do believe him! I do trust him!” Bumblebee shouted, “I'll always believe in him and the love we share! I never once doubted him when he says that he loves me! And maybe I'd trust him now too if there wasn't a giant fragger standing right beside him forcing him to say whatever they want! Maybe I'd believe him if he wasn't being pressured by a- a…" He was so angry right now he couldn’t even get out the words.

His processor suddenly flashed back to all the times Blitzwing had shown up for their dates brandishing new injuries. This was the mech that had hurt him. And he didn't even  _ care. _

“Just... a  _ monster.  _ That  _ hurts _ him and  _ threatens _ him if he doesn't do exactly what you want!”

Blitzwing just stared at him, his expression one of shock.

Megatron himself showed little reaction to his outburst, his expression having turned stoic as he listened to what he apparently considered little more than a insignificant minibot throwing a tantrum. 

Lugnut however, was immediately up in arms. 

“Megatron's is the most astounding Cybertronian that ever existed! Who are you to dare question his leadership?! You’re nothing more than Autobot cannon fodder!” 

Megatron quickly signaled for him to tone it down and for a moment the cave became eerily silent. The only sound coming from the quiet rustling of the wind rushing through the various tunnels.

“Then you’re an even bigger fool than I could've ever imagined.” Megatron said, his voice having taken on a chilling quality. “Well, I suppose it's no matter. You can choose to believe whatever you wish, I just thought you should know the truth before the end.” 

Bumblebee's processor stalled.

“T-the end?” He asked numbly, but Megatron was no longer paying him any mind as he'd already turned to address Blitzwing.

“It’s time to end this.” He said with finitality as he retrieved one of the swords. 

Blitzwing flinched as the sword was unsheathed and a low, “Don’t you dare” crawled up Bumblebee's intake, but Megatron made no move to use it.

Instead he brought it to optic level, seemingly admiring it for a moment, before finally offering the blade to Blitzwing. 

Blitzwing just stared at the weapon in stunned silence, his faceplate eventually spinning to Icy as he hesitantly accepted it with his remaining servo. 

He spared a moment to look at the mech he saw reflected in the blade, his reflection showing a tired facsimile of usual self.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

Megatron shot him a look that clearly said he thought Blitzwing was being exceptionally stupid for having to ask.

“ _ You _ started this mess, and  _ you’ll  _ be the one to end it." Megatron growled, "I think you know  _ exactly _ what to do with it”.

Blitzwing looked from Megatront to Bumblebee then to the sword and back to Bumblebee in rapid succession as realisation slowly started to dawn on him. He immediately turned back to Megatron.

“But my lord, I'm certain he could still be of use to us,” He quickly insisted. 

Megatron simply lifted an optic ridge.

“Oh, really?" He asked, daring Blitzwing to continue. "What use could he possibly serve?”

“H-He’s one of the Autobot serving under a Prime, I'm sure he knows something that cou-” Megatron cut him off.

“And what pray tell could he possibly know that Shockwave could not tell us?” He asked rhetorically, “He’s nothing more than a simple repair bot. If we’re ever in need of his particular brand of  _ expertise _ we can just drag it out of the Prime at a later date.” He gave Blitzwing a sadistic smirk 

“Try again.”

“We-we could use him as a hostage!”

Bumblebee could only watch as Blitzwing became more and more visibly frazzled as he desperately tried to come up with an excuse not to kill him. 

“We could demand a ransom, or even the total surrender of the Autobots stationed on-!”

“I don’t care about that.” Megatron replied coldly, “We’ll wipe them all off the face of this planet soon enough, and by killing their weakest member we will be showing them that we have no problem picking them off one by one. The terror we shall inspire with this one's death will be worth much more than anything he could've offered with his life." He gave Blitzwing a dark look. “They’ll learn quickly not to get in our way, and should you follow through by killing this one, it shall prove to me that your loyalty is not misplaced.” 

Megatron then roughly grabbed Blitzwing by the back of his neck and forced him to look him in the optic. His claws created small wounds as they dug painfully into the triple changer's plating, and without the option to look away, all Blitzwing could do was tense in preparation for the pain to come. Megatron continued.

“So, unless this minibot can serve a greater purpose than proving that you’re not a traitor, I must advise that you save your breath.” 

Bumblebee could see Blitzwing's frame trembling, he was obviously beyond terrified at this point, but he still managed to gather enough courage to speak.

“P-Please, I truly believe the minibot has far more uses to us alive than-” 

"You know, for someone who so readily admits they’re insane, you certainly like voicing your opinions. ” Megatron growled, sounding to have finally gotten fed up with listening to Blitzwing’s progressively poorer attempts to argue his case.

“Just shut up and get on with it.” With that said, Megatron finally let go of him and took a step back.

“What was it you said after your supply run?” Megatron asked, his optics boring holes into Blitzwing’s own. "Wasn't it something like, 'who cares if the little Autobot lives or dies?' There is no difference between then and now."

When Blitzwing met Megatron's optics it was with the same look a deer might give the headlights of an oncoming car. There was no way he missed just how frustrated Megatron was becoming with his arguing, if it was stubbornness or that he simply didn’t care, he grit his denta and made one last attempt to voice his doubt.

“My lord, please reconsider-” 

The harsh clang of metal on metal was nearly deafening as Megatron hit him in the face with a savage punch. 

Blitzwing was sent stumbling back from the sheer force of the blow, pink energon already leaking down his chin as his split lip was reopened. 

“Stop speaking-” Megatron was suddenly interrupted by a feral scream. 

“Don’t touch him!” 

Bumblebee refused to be a hapless bystander to this any longer. If Megatron was going to kill him anyway then he was going to leave a lasting mark for the warlord to remember him by.

Bumblebee shot off like a rocket. He quickly closed the distance between himself and the Decepticon leader, his stingers already out and sparking with deadly charge. 

Decepticons were hard to take down. Their plating was thick and their height advantage made it difficult to hit vital areas, but if Bumblebee could just get close enough he might be able to do some lasting damage. 

So, with his voltage cranked to the highest setting Bumblebee pressed his stingers to Megatron's plating and fired. 

“Bumblebee don't!” Blitzwing screamed, but his warning came too late. 

Megatron let out a quiet hiss of pain, before he reeled back his ped and kicked Bumblebee away from him with all his might.

Bumblebee's yellow plating crumpled under Megatron's ped, and he was immediately sent flying into the opposite wall.

The sheer force of the impact almost caused him to blackout, and dark spots danced across his vision in the painful aftermath. He fell down to the floor with a thud. Everything hurt, from his aching helm to his battered chest plate, and for a moment he simply lay on the cold, hard floor struggling to drag air into his vents.

His audio receptors were ringing, and he could taste energon in his mouth, but he was determined to get up right until he was suddenly trapped under a crushing weight.

When He looked up he was greeted by Lugnuts multiple optics glaring down at him. He looked beyond furious and he had Bumblebee’s chest pinned under his ped. Slowly, Lugnut began increasing the pressure and Bumblebee could feel his chest plate starting to buckle under the strain. It was getting harder and harder to draw air into his vents, and with every second that went by a new current of agony was sent through his frame.

“Get. Off.” Bumblebee panted out, not being able to drag in enough air to properly voice his demand. However, after a bit of painful maneuvering, he was finally able to raise one of his stingers and give Lugnut a shock. He heard Lugnut hiss as the electricity crackled over his plating, but he quickly shook off the sting and started pressing down harder. Bumblebee's formally cracked windows shattered under the pressure and he let out a cut off cry of pain as Lugnut proceeded to crush him.

Suddenly, Megatron entered his field of vision, his expression stoic as watched Bumblebee struggle. 

But even pinned under Lugnut's considerable weight and his frame screaming in agony, Bumblebee still bore his denta and growled hatefully at the Decepticon leader.

Megatron just regarded him with something resembling mild amusement.

“So much energy for such a little bot. It’s almost impressive.  _ Almost _ .”

He made an encouraging motion towards Lugnut, and the warframe gradually increased the pressure, forcing Bumblebee to let out a pained groan. 

Bumblebee's vision was slowly starting to fill up with black spots, as the pressure on his frame started to become unbearable. Venting was almost impossible at this point, and somewhere in the back of his processor, Bumblebee knew that if Lugnut pressed down any harder he'd probably end up crushing his spark chamber. 

But despite the panic, the fear, and the overall agony being so close to death caused him, Bumblebee put everything he had left into shooting enraged glares at Lugnut and his psychopathic leader.

“Frag you.” He wheezed.

Megatron didn’t seem bothered in the least by his insults as he then momentarily left his vision before reappearing at Blitzwing’s side.

“It’s time to end this.” Megatron muttered darkly, before silently motioning for Lugnut to stand down.

Bumblebee let out a relieved gasp as Lugnut's ped was removed, but even with the weight gone, Bumblebee still felt as if his entire was on fire. Every ventilation burned in a way he knew it shouldn't and it took everything he had not to just shut his optics and lie still. 

Blitzwing was watching him now, but Bumblebee was having serious trouble seeing through the haze of darkness that had started to creep in. What he could make out was the horrified look in Blitzwing’s optics and the way his servo trembled as he held on to the hilt of Megatron's sword. 

Through the darkening edges of his failing optical feed, Bumblebee could still see clear as day that Blitzwing didn’t want to go through with this. 

Maybe Bumblebee should've been more scared, but at that moment all he felt was deeply sad, sad that he couldn’t comfort him, sad that he couldn’t gently cup Blitzwing’s faceplate and tell him everything was going to be alright, sad that this would be the last memory Blitzwing would ever have of him.

But as Bumblebee looked up at the mech that would end his life he realised that they were both just powerless to stop this. Bumblebee could no longer force his broken frame to rise and Blitzwing was out numbered two to one. It would seem that all those romantic movies had been wrong. Love does not always find a way.

Not everyone got a happy ending. 

At least with his death Blitzwing would be spared. 

Bumblebee had known from the moment he agreed to Megatron's deal that this would probably be the end game, but that didn’t make it suck any less. More than anything he wished it didn’t have to end this way, but his fate had already been sealed. 

His life in exchange for Blitzwings. It was a price he was more than willing to pay. 

Still on the other side of the room Blitzwing looked positively  _ stricken. _

Bumblebee couldn’t help but to let out a wheezy “Ha” ‘All a ruse’ he thought bitterly, what a load of slag. Blitzwing still very muched loved him, Bumblebee hadn't doubted him for a second. He still loved Bumblebee and Bumblebee still loved him, if they didn’t then this whole thing wouldn’t be nearly so difficult, 

Well, Bumblebee could at least try to try to make it easier for him.

He forced his lips into a cocky grin and he tried to push out his chest, giving him a clear shot at his spark. 

“What's a matter Blitzbrain?” He asked, "Too much of a chicken to finish me off?” 

What he really wanted to say were those three words he'd confessed in the sanctuary on dinobot island all those months ago. He wanted to say ‘I love you’ one last time. 

But Bumblebee knew he'd just be making it harder for both of them if he did and he didn’t want to make this experience any worse. So after saying what he believed to be his last words, he lay still and smiled as brightly as he could. Hoping his optics could express what he couldn’t say. 

‘It’s okay. I don’t hate you for this’.

Blitzwing stood in silence for a moment longer, his unwavering stance resembling more that of a statue than a sentient being. But slowly a look of determination began to take over his features. 

He brought up the sword as high as it would go before with a shaky exvent, his faceplate switched to Random and with a loud cackle he swung it down. 

* * *

There are few things that can make you as vulnerable as when you love someone.

Because once you totally devote yourself to another, they can quickly become your greatest weakness, and no matter how strong you might think you are your loved one will always be the one chink in your armor. 

And should that person decide to hurt you, they’ll already know all the best ways to do so. 

But even if they never betray your trust, they'll still have a target on their back for as long as your love lives with them. 

But this begs the question,  _ why? Why _ love someone if it'll make you so vulnerable? 

Why risk it? 

Well it’s quite simple.

When you love someone you’ll never be more  _ vulnerable _ , but you’ll also never be  _ stronger _ .

So when the sword swings down it doesn't miss. The blade slices right through Megatron's ped and buries itself several inches into the ground.

Blitzwing was well versed the type of stone this cave was made of. The bulk of it was composed of loose sedimentary rock and it wasn’t uncommon for their equipment to get stuck as they excavated. The key to avoiding that was to go slowly, but Megatron had never taken his advice seriously.

So when Blitzwing buried the sword into Megatron's ped he made sure to exact just enough force to get it lodged in the rock underneath. 

Ha, and all his colleagues used to tell him sculpture was a useless skill. 

Silence reigned in the aftermath of his attack as everyone seemed to be in a state of shock. However, Blitzwing was unwilling to give either of them a chance to regroup. So, without a moment's hesitation, he let go of the sword's hilt and hit Lugnut with a vicious uppercut to the jaw.

Lugnut was sent stumbling back and the suddenness of the blow seemed to have left him somewhat stunned. Fortunately for Lugnut, Blitzwing made no move to follow through on his attack, as his focus was quickly drawn to something else. 

Blitzwing knew time wasn't on his side, but he still attempted to be gentle as he scooped Bumblebee into his arms. 

Now with the minibot tucked close to his chest, he took a few hurried steps back and fired his cannons at the ceiling of the mine.

The whole cave immediately began shaking as dust and loose rocks rain down from above, quickly forming a wall between Blitzwing and the other Decepticons. 

With a pained and grunt Megatron tore the sword from his plating. He simply looked at it for a moment as pink energon dripped off of it's blade. He then raised his optics to his former soldier. 

His expression was murderous. 

At that Blitzwing quickly spun on his heels and took off running, away from the warlord and back towards the exit of the mine. 

He could still hear Megatron as he shouted after him.

“Run! Run as fast as you can coward! But know that there's nowhere you can hide that will save you! I’ll catch you eventually! It's just a matter of time!” 

That’s the last he had time to say before the ceiling caved in.


	12. Surprise?

Blitzwing held Bumblebee close as he frantically sprinted towards the exit, the sounds of his footsteps echoing ominously as he traversed the progressively more maze-like tunnels of the gloomy cavern. Eventually, one of the tunnels gave way to open air, and Bumblebee was blinded by sunlight. As he raised his servo against the sun's harsh rays, he took a moment to appreciate the earthly scent of the nearby pine trees as he inhaled fresh air for the first time in what felt like hours. 

As soon as they'd managed to clear the threshold, Blitzwing turned around and fired another shot towards the opening, causing it to collapse under an avalanche of large rocks. 

Blitzwing was venting heavily, and seemingly running on pure adrenaline, he looked down at Bumblebee and let out a laugh that bordered on hysteria.

“I hope you’re not afraid of heights!” he shouted, before activating his thrusters and rocketing up into the air.

Bumblebee felt the cold air rush past them as they rose higher and higher up into the sky. 

Under more favourable circumstances he probably would've considered the experience thrilling, as being able to travel at such high speeds so far off the ground was something few if any Autobots ever got to experience. Unfortunately, as it stood, his entire sensor net was alight with fiery agony and his processor was overwhelmed by a stream of seemingly never ending damage reports, making it impossible for him to truly appreciate the moment.

Bumblebee turned his helm slightly and saw the forests passing underneath them. He probably should've been more nervous about being so far off the ground, but he couldn’t really muster up the energy for it.

Besides, he was currently being carried in Blitzwing's arms, his frame pressed close to the triple changers chest. Bumblebee felt like this was one of the safest places he could ever be.

He closed his optics for a moment and just focused on the cool brush of air against his faceplate. It felt so nice to just rest his optics after everything that he'd just been through, and before long he could feel the warm embrace of recharge beckoning him. Primus, he was so tired...

But just as he'd started to drift off he heard the familiar whirl of Blitzwing's faceplate swapping, his voice soon rousing him from the alluring promise of recharge. 

“Don’t close your optics.” He ordered sternly, his voice coming out as a painful sounding rasp. Bumblebee looked up at his now blue faceplate and tiredly raised an optic ridge. Blitzwing must've noticed his confusion because he quickly elaborated.

“You’ve recently suffered devastating injuries I would… well, I'd rather not risk it.” 

His tone might've been even, but Bumblebee could sense the concern hidden just under the surface as well as the words that remained unsaid.

‘I’m afraid that if you close your optics you'll never open them again’

Bumblebee weakly raised his servo and patted Blitzwing’s chest reassuringly.

“Don’t worry about me Blitzy. I might be small, but I’m tougher than I look. You won't get rid of me that easy.” He said with a tired smile.

Blitzwing just looked at him with an expression Bumblebee couldn’t quite place. Whatever he had going on in his helm, it didn’t seem remotely pleasant. He appeared almost entirely focused on his self-assigned task getting them both to safety and a layer of panic seemed to be bubbling just under the surface. 

Bumblebee hated it.

Blitzwing hadn’t huffed and fondly called him an idiot like he usually did when Bumblebee said something he thought was dumb. He hadn’t rolled his optics, laughed, smiled or even made a tired sigh. All of his energy seemed to be funneled entirely into his resolve, and it was almost like he couldn’t shift into any other state of mind.

Blitzwing eventually lifted his gaze from the minibot in his arms and trained his optics on the distant sky. But even with his attention no longer focused on him, Bumblebee continued to watch Blitzwing with concern.

Bumblebee could feel every pained shudder that wracked the triple changers frame, and from his vantage point he noticed that Blitzwing was nervously biting on his lip. Energon was still leaking sluggishly from the wound Megatron had caused by his punch, and the pink liquid had made a trail down all the way down to his chin.

Bumblebee lifted a servo and carefully tried to thumb away the worst of it. He knew he wasn’t making much of a difference considering Blitzwing's entire frame was riddled with injuries, from his buckled plating, to the twisted lump of metal that remained of his servo, but Bumblebee still tried to do what little he could to help. Though after his first feeble attempt to wipe some of it off, Blitzwing began pulling away from his touch.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” He said firmly, “Just focus on saving your energy.” 

“You can’t tell me what to do.” Bumblebee countered, his scowl was weak, but no less determined as he directed it up at the mech holding him. Blitzwing, for his part, still seemed to be running on autopilot and thus barely registered that he had said anything at all. The lack of proper acknowledgement only served to irritate Bumblebee.

But after a moment, he realized he'd probably just have to put up with Blitzwing's simple responses for the time being, and he let out a tired sigh. This was followed almost immediately by a quiet hiss of pain as his frame quickly reminded him of his compromised ventilation system. The sudden cut off chokes and hacks he produced was what finally snapped Blitzwing out from whatever it was he'd been thinking so hard about. 

“Bumblebee?” He asked worriedly, his voice filled with concern. 

“I’m- I'm fine.” He said as soon as his coughing had died down, he smiled up at Blitzwing tiredly. “It just kind of hurts… Everywhere.” Blitzwing gave him a quiet nod of understanding before turning his focus back to the sky ahead.

“Just hold on a little longer, we’ll find help for you soon.” 

Bumblebee cock his helm in confusion. “What do you mean?” He asked, but by following Blitzwing's gaze he realized that he could see something slowly emerging from behind the thick forestry that surrounded them. It took a bit longer for his optics to register what he was seeing, but eventually he recognized that the small blip on the horizon was actually a city. They were heading straight for Detroit. 

Soon they were hovering over right over the heart of the city.. The wind whipped around them wildly as they came to a halt in the air and Bumblebee could see that they were far above even the highest skyscraper. 

“Where is Sari?” Blitzwing asked suddenly, “She still has her key correct?” His voice held a noticeable urgency and Bumblebee gave him a weak nod.

“She did last time I saw her.” He answered casually. 

“Do you know where she is right now?”

Bumblebee was quiet for a moment as his muddled processor tried to recall the most likely place she'd be. 

“I guess she'd probably be at our base." He said at last, "That’s where I asked Bulk to bring her right before Megatron knocked me out.” 

“I don’t know where your base is.” Blitzwing quickly reminded him, “So you’ll have to guide me there.” Bumblebee couldn’t help but let out a somewhat delirious giggle, his aching frame heavily protesting against the action. 

“You know I can’t tell you that.” He said with a wheeze of static, “You're only hanging out with me for information, remember?” Bumblebee had meant it to be taken as a joke, but he immediately regretted his words as a look of shame overtook Blitzwing’s features.

He quickly averted his optics, seemingly no longer able to look Bumblebee in the face.

“Bumblebee…” He started, his voice shaking with misery. “I- I never wanted to say those to you. I'm just- I'm so _sorry_.” He sounded so small and miserable and Bumblebee could clearly hear in his voice how genuinely remorseful he felt. Whatever pain Bumblebee might've suffered by listening to those words, it had clearly hurt Blitzwing just as much to say them. 

“I didn’t mean any of it." He continued, "When Megatron confronted me about our meetings, I told him the only thing I could think of that might make him spare your life. I didn’t know he'd make me- I-I just, I thought I'd-” Bumblebee cut him off.

“I was only joking Blitzy.” He said, gently lifting the others chin with a soft smile. “I’m not mad or hurt- well I guess I am hurt, but not like, not in that way.” He let out another pitiful chuckle and brushed his thumb over Icy's blue cheek. "I know you were just only trying to protect us, so it's all good.” His reasurrences did little to diminish Blitzwing's guilty expression, but he gave a subtle nod of acknowledgement. One last, 'I’m sorry’ slipped from his intake.

Bumblebee just gave him another soft smile, before he turned his attention to the streets of Detroit. He was having a difficult time orienting himself as he'd never had to navigate the city from a bird's-eye view. The shift in perspective kind of threw him off a bit, but eventually he spotted some familiar landmarks. It took a little longer to actually figure out where they were in relation to Autobot base, but Blitzwing waited patiently for Bumblebee to point them in the right direction.

“I think it's that way.” He said at last, his servo trembling as he pointed to the factory district. Blitzwing was quick to follow Bumblebee's guidance and immediately started flying in the direction Bumblebee indicated.

It wasn't long before a familiar building came into view. 

“There it is." Bumblebee said, pointing down at the seemingly abandoned factory. "Home sweet home… Don’t tell Megatron” He said with a painful sounding chuckle. Blitzwing grimaced slightly at the reminder and quickly began his descent towards the ground. 

As they prepared to make touchdown, Bumblebee couldn’t help but notice how careful Blitzwing was being. Usually he just dropped straight out of the sky, but this time he was purposely taking the time to lower himself slowly. Bumblebee didn’t think he'd ever seen him make such a controlled landing. Unfortunately, even with all the precautions Blitzwing had taken, he still let out a hiss of pain as he was forced to put weight on his injured knee. 

He'd landed roughly 15 to 20 meters away from the building, and once he'd had a chance to recover from the pain the landing caused him, he vented deeply and shouted over the remaining distance. 

“Sari!” 

His scream was one of desperation and fervent urgency. It was undoubtedly painful for him, as his vocal opponents were still heavily damaged from Megatron's punishment, and Bumblebee knew that screaming like that definitely wasn't making it any better.

Everything was deathly still for a moment after Blitzwing cry, before all of a sudden the factory doors were violently thrown open and two figures came running out.

Sari was the first to emerge, followed immediately by Bulkhead. Her cheeks were red from all her crying, and she still seemed to be weakly sniffling back tears, but as soon as she saw them her expression changed to one of shocked relief. Although that quickly turned to concern once she took in their battered appearance.

Bulkhead for his part just looked completely gobsmacked to see the triple changer standing outside their base. His optics were almost comically wide and he had to do a double-take to truly grasp the condition he seemed to be in. However, it wasn't long before his optics were drawn to the yellow figure of the minibot he held in his arms. His optics narrowed dangerously as he took in the crumpled form of his best friend. He quickly transformed his wrecking ball and stepped protectively in front of Sari.

“Put him down right now!” He shouted, his voice full of righteous anger. Blitzwing wasted no time in complying with his demands and gently placed Bumblebee on the cold ground between them. He then lifted his empty servos in a show of surrender and looked at Bulkhead with pleading optics. 

“I didn’t come here to fight,” He stated, trying to keep his voice from trembling. “ _Please_ , I brought him here so he could get help. So please help him, I _beg_ of you.” Bulkhead seemed genuinely shocked at Blitzwings request, but also by the fact that he had adhered to his command at all. However, he still seemed terribly suspicious of the triple changers motives, and it went without saying that he most likely thought Blitzwing's arrival was a precursor to some sort of trap. 

“Okay...” He responded slowly, clearly thrown off guard, but still trying to be cautious. “N-now step away from-” He didn’t get further, because suddenly Sari darted out from behind him and ran towards Bumblebee's unmoving form.

“No Sari! It's too dangerous!” Bulkhead shouted, but by then she'd already covered the short distance and was kneeling at Bumblebee's side, completely ignoring the towering warframe standing only a few feet away. 

As soon as she was close enough, she quickly slipped the key from around her neck and inserted it into the opening in Bumblebee's chest plate, forcing all who were present to avert their optics as the area was filled with white light. 

The light faded quickly, and Bumblebee let out an immense sigh of relief as the pain finally subsided. He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, taking in a few even breaths through his newly healed vents.

“Thank you.” He said, as he turned to Sari with a grateful smile. However, his grin quickly dissipated once he saw that her own expression was an awful mix of anger and lingering sadness. Angry tears gathered in her eyes as she curled her hands into fists, and it wasn't long before she threw the first punch. 

“You left me locked in a car!" She screamed, her tiny fists banging against his plating. "You big dumb, stupid, banana colored, robotic nincompoop! I can't believe you did that!” For every new insult she shouted at him she accompanied it by an equally furious punch. “Don’t ever, ever, _ever_ leave me like that again!” Well, she clearly had yet to forgive him for his latest stunt, but Bumblebee couldn’t really say her reaction was unjustified.

Hoping to quell the worst of her anger, Bumblebee held up his servos as if her fists were actually hurting him and pretended to protect himself.

“Okay, okay, _okay_! I get it, I’m sorry!” He yelled, before finally catching her flailing hands in his servos. “I’m really sorry okay? You can be as mad as you want, and you can kick and punch me as much as you like later.” He quickly turned and motioned towards where Blitzwing remained stationary. “But can you please help out Blitzwing first?” He asked. Sari gave him a begrudging look that clearly said, ‘this isn't over’ before giving a soft and huff and turning towards Blitzwing, motioning for him to lean down so she could reach. 

He looked at her somewhat skeptically for a moment, but between Sari's expectant stare and Bumblebee's pleading optics, he let down his guard and kneeled down. As soon as he was close enough, Sari inserted her key, filling the area with a second burst of light.

But the light had just barely started to fade when a sudden shout of dismay rang out.

“Sari, what are you doing!?” Bulkhead shouted, sounding almost betrayed as he watched her heal Blitzwing too. “He’s a dangerous con! He's evil and-” 

“No he’s not!” Sari snapped, “He’s not that bad!” she sounded almost _offended_ as she argued with the green Autobot. “He brought Bumblebee back to us didn’t he?!” She yelled, but she quickly turned her attention back to Bumblebee and Blitzwing once she realized she still didn't know the whole story.

“What happened to you guys anyway?” She asked, ”What did Megatron do to you?” She looked between both of them as she waited for an answer. 

Bumblebee scowled at the mere mention of the Decepticon leader, and he could feel a familiar rage starting to burn inside him.

“Megatron didn’t really _appreciate_ that me and Blitzwing were hanging out so he tried to have him kill me. _”_ Bumblebee said, nodding towards Blitzwing. He then gave Sari a smug grin. “And well, Blitzwing didn’t really _appreciate_ that Megatron was being an aft. So, he turned in his Decepticon resignation form, and let's just say it was a _sharp_ turn of events.” He said, ending with a chuckle. “Isn’t that right Blitz?” 

He turned to the mech in question with a proud grin, but his smile quickly dropped from his face when he saw Blitzwing's troubled expression. 

In the time that Bumblebee had been distracted by Sari's questions, Blitzwing seemed to have drawn inward. His optics were now dull and lifeless and there was nothing left of the normal shine that usually filled them. He might've been here physically, but his processor was apparently somewhere far far off. 

The whole thing gave Bumblebee a bad feeling, he'd never quite seen him like this before. 

“Blitzy?" He asked softly, "Are you okay?” His entire being was filled with concern for the suddenly motionless mech, but no matter what he said, Blitzwing didn’t seem to register that he was being spoken to.

“Uhh, Bee w-what’s going on?" Bulkhead sounded terribly confused, "Why are you talking that way to a Con?”

Bumblebee spared him a quick glance over his shoulder.

“Not now Bulk.” Bumblebee said seriously, before turning his attention back to Blitzwing. He finally stood up and walked closer, “Blitzwing? Can you hear me?” He asked again. Still getting no response he waved his servo in front of the others optics and snapped his digits. 

“Blitz-”

“I stabbed Megatron.” Blitzwing suddenly blurted out. There was no emotion in his voice as he stated this fact, but it seemed as if by merely saying it out loud he'd suddenly been left hollow, his processor still seemingly wading through a sea of a fog. Bumblebee simply lifted an optic ridge at the statement, but Sari's was immediately intrigued.

“You did what?!” Her eyes were wide with excitement and she couldn't help smiling widely. “You actually stabbed that jerk!?” Sari might've been overjoyed at the revelation, but Bumblebee felt his spark beat worryingly for his still catatonic boyfriend.

“Yeah, you did.” He answered, unsure what else Blitzwing wanted him to say. But it almost seemed like Blitzwing hadn’t been directing his words at anyone in particular.

“I stabbed Megatron,” Blitzwing said again, this time with more emphasis. Bumblebee noticed with alarm that his frame had started trembling violently. “I-I stabbed _Megatron._ ”

“What is going on?!” Bulkhead shouted again, clearly getting frustrated about the fact that he was so obviously out of the loop.

“Not now Bulkhead!” Bumblebee snapped at him, “I’m talking to Blitzwing!” A sudden whirl of sound had Bumblebee quickly turning back around, and was met with his black faceplate. Suddenly, he started laughing.

“I stabbed Megatron! I stabbed the most _dangerous_ Cybertronian alive!” His laughter was high pitched and almost deafening, but Bumblebee quickly recognized that there was no true mirth in it. This was not a laugh of joy or relief. 

Bumblebee had heard it only once before, but he remembered it clear as day. This was a laugh of hysteria, of panic, of complete and utter insanity. It was then that Bumblebee realised just how close Blitzwing was to actually losing it.

He'd probably been running on pure adrenaline this whole time as he pushed his broken frame to get them both out of there, and it had been clear that his determination to get Bumblebee help had been the one thing holding him together, but now neither of them was in immediate danger and that frenzied desperation to simply _survive_ had started to ebb. 

Blitzwing was probably only just now realizing the true scope of his situation, and the repercussion that would surely follow his actions. 

He'd attacked his _leader-_ well, former leader now Bumblebee supposed, but either way he'd ended up stabbing Megatron. There was no way the leader of the Decepticon would take this lying down, and what was worse, was that faction he'd so been so adamant to stay with, well, he'd just marked himself as their enemy. The very faction his trine had died for, the faction he'd sacrificed his mind and body for, the faction he'd fought with for years and years, he'd never be able to go back to them. 

He'd just lost everything. 

Bumblebee immediately interlinked their servos and gave them a gentle squeeze. He wished he knew how to make this better. 

“Hey, come on Blitzwing it's gonna be ok. Please try to calm down, I promise everything will work out.” Bumblebee continued trying to offer what little he could in the ways of comfort, but barely a moment later he heard an unmistakable swishing sound. 

He recognized what it was a second too late as Blitzwing's laughter was abruptly cut off by a yelp of pain. His servo quickly came up to cradle his shoulder and he turned his helm to see what had hurt him. His frame suddenly went rigid when he spotted the golden shuriken sticking out of his plating. 

_‘Oh no.’_ Bumblebee thought, his spark quickly filling with dread. 

He recognized that weapon. 

He immediately turned his attention to the direction it'd come from, and saw that Prowl had joined the offensive. He was standing only a short distance away and appeared to quickly be lining up for another shot.

Bumblebee immediately let go of Blitzwing's servos and stepped in between the triple changer and the ninja bot. He was far too small to be an adequate shield for Blitzwing, but hopefully it would at least make his teammate think twice before attacking. 

“Prowl don’t! it’s not what you think!” He shouted. Prowl didn’t lower his weapons at Bumblebee's sudden outburst, but he did pause his next throw; Bumblebee's words seemingly taking him by surprise. 

With his main focus still on Prowl, it took Bumblebee a moment to notice the movement in his periphery.

When he turned, he saw that Blitzwing had taken the time to rise back to his full height. With a grunt of pain, the triple changer yanked the barbed weapon from his plating, and brought up his fists with a dark growl. He was ready to fight. 

Bumblebee, who was still hoping to de-escalate the situation, was suddenly cut off from making any more attempts at peacekeeping when two familiar vehicles came screaming out from behind one of the buildings. They quickly transformed into Optimus and Ratchet respectively, and ran over to where Prowl was still standing guard. All three of them quickly adopted defense stances. 

“Step away from the minibot!” Optimus shouted.

Blitzwing looked between the three mechs standing in front of him, and glared at them hatefully as he assumed his own battle position. 

“Everyone, just calm down!” Bumblebee shouted. 

If he didn’t figure out some way to disarm the rapidly building tension then this whole situation was about to go from bad to _very_ bad. 

“Please! None of you have to fight eac-!” He was promptly cut off by Ratchet

“Kid! Just grab Sari and run!” 

Neither Bumblebee nor Sari made any move to get away from the warframe. He personally had no intention of leaving Blitzwing's side for even a second, and although Sari appeared somewhat unsure as she looked between the two groups of bots, she still seemed to feel much the same.

Ratchet looked seriously confused by Bumblebee's inaction, but before he could say anything else, two things happened at once. Optimus stepped closer and Blitzwing lowered his cannons. 

“Not a step closer Autobot scum!” Hothead snarled, Bumblebee quickly turned back towards him.

“Blitzwing!” He scolded, “We don’t have to fight! Just put down your weapons and let me talk to them for a minute! I'm sure we can convince them to let you stay, I've jus-” Blitzwing suddenly snapped.

“I refuse to become a prisoner!” He shouted. 

To everyone else he probably sounded furious, but Bumblebee could already recognize the barely contained panic and desperation in his voice. Unfortunately, all his teammates saw was an out of control mech locked in a fiery rage, and there was only one thing being around such a volatile Decepticon would lead to.

Prowl quickly threw out another shuriken, but this time Blitzwing saw it and was able to dodge its trajectory. Still, it served its desired purpose and tore his attention away from Bumblebee. Now that he was distracted, both Ratchet and Optimus left their positions. Ratchet going to the left and Optimus running off to the right.

“Bulkhead!” Optimus yelled, “Formation omicron!” 

Bumblebee's spark stop beating for a second. He knew what that stood for, they were going to encircle Blitzwing. He felt his spark pick up speed again as he realised they were getting closer and closer to turning this to a full blown brawl.

Bumblebee didn’t have time to think about it as he quickly intercepted Bulkhead and shouted out an order of his own. 

“Bulkhead stay put!” Bumblebee yelled. Out of the corner of his optics he could see Optimus giving him an irritated look.

“What are you doing!?” He shouted back, “Get yourself and Sari out of the cross fire!” But Bumblebee still refused to budge, as he and Sari continued to stand firm. 

“I’m not going anywhere!” Sari yelled, "You can't make us leave!" 

During this heated standoff, Bulkhead just looked from Optimus to Bumblebee as they fiercely contested the others' order. He wasn’t sure he'd ever seen Bumblebee so resolved about anything, what was so important that he'd ignore a direct command? After another moment of internal conflict Bulkhead finally made up his mind and moved to address Optimus.

“O-Optimus, I-I think there might be a lot more going on here." 

Ratchet let out an aggravated loud huff.

“Just help us capture the con and we can sort whatever it is out later!” He yelled, clearly well past the point of anger as he watched half his team stand around arguing with each other. “Get back in formation!” 

Bumblebee felt as if his spark had stopped, ‘ _Capture him’_ , which meant _imprisonment_ , there was no way Blitzwing hadn’t heard that. Bumblebee quickly looked up and saw that the wording certainly hadn't been lost on Blitzwing. He quickly bared his denta at the rest of team Prime and flexed his armor to help himself appear bigger and more threatening.

“Just try it!” He yelled back, “Just you dare to try it!” 

Blitzwing was starting to have trouble keeping track of Optimus, Prowl and Ratchet, sure Autobots were small, but right now there were three against one and despite his best efforts Blitzwing couldn't possibly look at all of them at once. Bumblebee did his best to be his second set of optics, but it was clear that the mere thought of incarceration had seriously put Blitzwing on edge. 

“Everyone just calm down! Come on Blitz-” Bumblebee was interrupted when Sari quickly sidestepped. Bumblebee couldn’t figure out why she made such a sudden move, but he didn't have to wait long; because only a second later he felt Optimus' grappling hook wind around his leg. Well, that certainly answered that question, he thought grimly. 

Optimus looked rather surprised by her quick evasion, but he must've realized that even just getting one of them out would be helpful, so he quickly changed his plan. 

It was only a split second, but Bumblebee immediately realised what was about to happen and he started yelling. 

“Optimus don’t you d-!” 

He was cut off just as he was yanked off his peds. 

It was kind of anticlimactic if Bumblebee had to say so, the cord took a while to completely reel him in, so he was left struggling for a good few seconds as he unsuccessfully tried to get himself loose. All in all he felt rather like a fish on a hook. 

Eventually, Bumblebee landed roughly at the base of Optimus' peds and he immediately gave his leader a mighty scowl as he untangled himself from the grappling hook. 

“Optimus, what in Primus' name is wrong with you?!”

Optimus looked genuinely bewildered by his angry reaction, but Bumblebee was already ignoring him in favor of someone else. He'd drawn Blitzwing's attention with all his yelling and now the triple changer was looking at him as if he were surprised to see Bumblebee suddenly so far away. 

Unfortunately, this was just the distraction Prowl had been waiting for, and with stasis cuffs in servo, he took off towards triple changer. Moving quickly and on light peds, Blitzwing seemed none the wiser as to what was about to happen. 

Bumblebee felt dread well up inside him. 

He'd seen first hand how much Blitzwing hated being trapped, but Primus the idea of the mech he loved being stuck somewhere in the stockade and just left to rust was too awful for Bumblebee to think about. He'd already suffered so much, how much more could he be expected to endure? 

He was clearly still reeling over his rather abrupt departure from the Decepticon faction, Bumblebee knew that if he had to suffer through being held prisoner on top of that it would only amplify all the stress and panic he was already feeling.

“Blitzwing! Behind you!” 

Optimus' optics widened in shock at Bumblebee's shouted warning, but that was closely followed by a look of alarm as he turned back to where Prowl was silently making his way over.

“Prowl! Fall back!” Optimus shouted, but it was too late.

As soon as he registered Bumblebee's words, Blitzwing quickly spun around and came almost to optic to optic with the ninja bot. Prowl, despite being discovered, still made a valiant attempt to cuff one of Blitzwing's wrists, but the triple changer reacted just a bit too quickly. Blitzwing jerked violently to get out of Prowls reach and immediately made a counterattack that Prowl was just a nanosecond too slow to avoid. In retaliation, Blitzwing grabbed one of Prowl's wrists and hoisted him up into the air, his peds dangling pathetically above the ground.

Blitzwing had just reeled his fist back in preparation for a devastating punch when a small voice rang out over the makeshift battlefield.

“Blitzwing stop!” Sari might have been silent for the majority of the fight, but she was far from a bystander. “You’re not a con anymore remember?!" She screamed, "You don’t have to hurt him!” she put her hands the only part of his plating she could reach and silently begged for him to listen, 

“Please put him down.”

Blitzwing seemed to freeze in place, and for a moment he simply observed Prowl in silence. The remaining Autobots could do little more than hold their breath as they waited for Blitzwings next move. 

Eventually, Blitzwing let out a low growl and yanked the stasis cuffs from Prowl's servo. He then gave a derisive scoff and tossed Prowl away from himself. 

The momentum of the throw carried Prowl through several rolls and somersaults before he was finally able to pull himself back up onto his peds, seemingly no worse for wear.

“Prowl are you alright?!” Ratchet shouted, as he swiftly moved toward the ninja bot. Prowl gave him a somewhat jerky nod 

“I’m… unharmed?” He admitted, sounding slightly befuddled by the whole ordeal. 

Although almost as soon as the words left his mouth there was an audible, ‘crunch’ as Blitzwing crushed the stasis cuffs in the palm of his servo. He let the twisted scrap fall to the ground, and immediately after, his faceplate switched back to Icy.

It was just as Blitzwing began scanning his optics over the open sky, that Bumblebee realised what he was about to do.

“Blitzwing don’t! Please stay, I promise we can work this out!” 

Blitzwing just looked at him through tired optics, his serovs still trembling from how overwhelmed he must've been feeling.

“I can't.” He responded numbly, “I just can’t. I’m sorry Bumblebee.” Bumblebees processor was working 100 miles an hour as he tried to come up with something, _anything_ he could say to stop him from leaving.

“Where would you even go?!” His words seemed to have some effect on Blitzwing, so Bumblebee fearlessly continued. “Just think about it! You have nowhere to go! You can’t go back to Megatron, and you can’t just wander around on your own, so where else are you going to go!?" 

Blitzwing momentarily let his optics sweep over the rest of his small team of Autobots. Ratchet and Optimus had yet to drop their guard and were still in fighting stances, Prowl had gotten back into one of his own as well, but he looked a bit unsure about it now. It was possible he'd realized he wasn’t seeing the whole picture, but like Ratchet and Optimus, his training dictated that he stay alert in case Blitzwing decided to attack. 

Blitzwing gave them one last once over before making his decision.

“I refuse to become an Autobot prisoner.” It was then that Bumblebee realised he'd lost him. He quickly got to his peds and started to run back towards him in a last ditch effort, but he wasn’t nearly fast enough.

Blitzwing transformed and blasting off towards the sky, without another word.

“Blitzwing!” Bumblebee called out after him “Blitzwing please come back!” Unfortunately, his cries were either ignored, or simply unheard as Blitzwing continued to fly away from him and the rest of team Prime. Soon he was merely a smudge of color, and he disappeared among the dark storm clouds that had started to roll in.

Bumblebee just looked at the place he'd disappeared in stunned silence. How could it all suddenly be over? It had happened so fast and he hadn’t even had a chance to say goodbye.

Everything was completely silent for a moment, and you could've heard a pin drop before an angry shout abruptly shattered the odd atmosphere.

“Bumblebee! What the frag was that?!” Ratchet yelled at him, his voice was a perfect mix of anger and utter confusion. Bumblebee grimaced as he took in the looks of the resident medic and the rest of his team. All of them were looking at him with expressions ranging from confusion to outrage, clearly awaiting his explanation.

_‘Guess there is no hiding it now’_ he thought bitterly. He made a hard swallow and looked out at his team.

“Me and Blitzwing well… We're dating. ” He smiled nervously, “Surprise?”


	13. A house divided

“So let me get this straight,” Optimus stated, already looking beyond furious. "You’ve secretly been in a relationship with one of Megatron's top lieutenants?!” 

Bumblebee winced as Optimus started yelling. 

They'd moved inside the base at this point. The sun had started to set, and none of them wanted to have this conversation out in the open, considering how ugly it was about to get. 

At the moment they were gathered in a semicircle in the base's main room, all their optics trained on the guilty minibot in the center. His teammate's expressions ran the full spectrum from shocked, concerned and all the way to outrage.

The only one to be exempt from this was Sari who'd decided to make good on her promise and stay by his side during the debacle. Unfortunately, she was in almost as much trouble as he was at this point, so really they were both just trying to have each other's backs.

Still, Bumblebee was thankful to have her, it really had been a blessing in disguise that she'd found out about his and Blitzwings relationship beforehand. Now he wouldn't have to face the team on his own.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Bumblebee admitted, not seeing any reason to lie about it anymore. Considering the scene that'd played earlier today, all his attempts at secret keeping might as well have been thrown out the window. 

Primus, they hadn’t even started asking the hard questions yet and already Bumblebee hated everything about this. It felt awful being the center of so much negative attention, especially when he knew they weren't only judging him, but also his choice in partner. The very air in the room felt thick as the tension began to mount. 

He could feel both their condemnation and the inevitable argument in the air. He didn’t know how it was going to turn out, or even who was going to say what, but he did know it was coming. The very thing he'd tried so hard to avoid by keeping his relationship a secret was about to hit him full force. All he could hope for now was that they'd hear him out long enough to understand his side of things.

Optimus let out a deep sigh of irritation.

“You’re dating Blitzwing.” He said again, as if he still couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “For how long?” He sounded unsure if he even wanted an answer.

“Since the end of Master Disaster's show.” Optimus looked genuinely shocked.

“ _ You _ were somehow able to keep something a secret for three months?” He asked, his voice incredulous. The revelation that Bumblebee managed to keep his mouth about  _ anything _ seemed to have shattered his world view. “Sweet Primus, give me strength…” He mumbled. “How? How did you even accomplish this?” He almost sounded impressed. 

“Well…” Bumblebee started hesitantly, “When we were held prisoner on that show, we kind of had a lot of time to hang out and get to know each other. I guess it was around then that I realized he wasn’t as bad as I'd always assumed he was”. Bumblebee gulped, "A-and without Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons there to tell him what to do, we actually got along pretty well. I learned that he could be funny and kind, and I started to look forward to when the cameras were turned off so we could just hang out. It was those little moments in-between shooting that made me realize I'd actually started to love him.”

Primus, it felt weird admitting that in front of his team, in just a scant few hours he'd gone from saying nothing about his relationship, to basically spilling his guts. 

“So, anyway it wasn't long after we'd both escaped that we decided to meet up again. And it was during that meeting that I ended up confessing that I loved him”. Bumblebee looked down guiltily and scuffed one of his peds against the floor "He told me he loved me too… I guess that’s pretty much it.” 

Optimus let out a  _ deep _ sigh and rubbed his temples. Every word out of Bumblebee's intake seemed to only add pressure to his rapidly building migraine.

“To be fair, I did kind of give you a heads up when I asked if there were any cons' that'd left their faction…” 

Optimus immediately flared up

“That does not count as a ‘heads up’ Bee!” He shouted, angry finger quotes and all. “A heads up would've been, ‘By the way, I’m currently in a relationship with a con’!”

“I planted the idea in your helm!” Bumblebee quickly retorted, but even he knew it was a weak argument at best. Optimus just continued to rub his temples. 

“For Primus sake…”

“Look, none of that that matters right now!” Bumblebee shouted, attempting to get the conversation back on track. “What’s important is that we go out right now and find Blitzwing.” he'd wanted to do that since the very second Blitzwing had left. He didn't want him out there alone, confused, and facing his demons in the worst way possible. This whole ordeal had been stressful enough and Bumblebee needed to find him before Megatron did. Unfortunately, this impromptu team meeting was seriously slowing him down.

“Find him to lock him up?” Ratchet asked coldly. 

“No! We find him so we can take him in and make sure he's safe!” Bumblebee shouted indignantly, “You’ve got to help me find him! It’s your fault he left in the first place!” His words startled a reaction out of Optimus, who seemed terribly irritated to be having this conversation at all.

“Bumblebee what did you expect? Our last contact with you was the short call you made to Bulkhead cryptically saying that you had to leave. We found Sari inconsolable in the backseat of a car not long after, crying her heart out, and saying something about Megatron kidnapping you! We searched the whole city for any sign of you before we saw that your life signal had reappeared, and when we arrived back at base, there was Blitzwing, a known Decepticon. Why would we possibly think he had good intentions when you hadn't let out so much as a whisper about your relationship to any of us?!” Bumblebee tried to think about a good counter for that one, but eventually he had to admit to himself that Optimus had a point. Why  _ wouldn't _ they think Blitzwing was up to no good? Optimus won this one.

“What actually did happen? Where did he take you?” Bulkhead asked suddenly.

“I don’t know,” Bumblebee answered with an accompanied shrug, “It kind of looked like an abandoned mine or something.” He then continued before anyone could interrupt his version of events, “ _ Anyway, _ what happened was that Megatron found out me and Blitz were together and well… Punished him for it. The old rust bucket then came for me and said that if I didn’t go with him willingly, he'd kill Blitz. So, I went with him. It was there that he tried to force Blitz to offline me, but Blitzwing refused, stabbed Megatron, and we both fled. You all basically know the rest.”

“If that's true then where did  _ your _ injuries come from?” Bulkhead asked, noting that Bumblebee had failed to explain how he'd gotten his own wounds.

“Well… I  _ might've _ attacked Megatron.” He mumbled, unsure if he should be proud or embarrassed that he'd done something so incredibly stupid. Bulkhead's optics widened in shock.

“You attacked  _ Megatron _ !?” He yelled.

“Nicely done!” Sari suddenly cut in, her smile wide as she offered her hand for a congratulatory high five. Bumblebee quickly reciprocated, because sure this was a serious meeting, but he couldn’t just leave her hanging!

Unfortunately, this action didn't go unnoticed, and Optimus quickly changed targets. His optics narrowed as he looked at Bumblebee's apparent partner in crime.

“You knew about this didn’t you?” He asked sternly, Sari's proud smile quickly vanished as she was put under the spotlight, and after a moment of guilty silence she weakly nodded her head. 

“Yeah, I've hung out with Bee and Blitz bef-” She didn’t get further before Ratchet suddenly surged forward and smacked Bumblebee upside the helm.

“Ouch!” Bumblebee yelped, his optics angrily snapping towards the medic as he cradled his aching helm. 

“You let Sari near that maniac?!” Ratchet shouted, his voice filled with vitriol. “You knowingly let an  _ organic _ near a  _ Decepticon _ !? Have you lost your fragging mind?!” But before Bumblebee could even attempt to defend himself, Sari stepped in front of him.

“It wasn’t Bee’s fault!” Sari yelled, “I forced him to tell me who he was seeing and I  _ wanted _ to hang out with them! Blitzwing isn’t that bad!” Ratchet gave her a look that clearly said that he thought she was being exceptionally stupid. 

“Sari don’t defend him.” He ordered sternly, “One of the Decepticons' main philosophies is that organics, such as yourself, are nothing more than pests that should be exterminated.” Sari scowled, not liking the tone Ratchet had taken with her.

“Well, he was way nicer and treated me a lot better than Sentinel ever did, and he isn’t even a con'!” She retorted, crossing her arms angrily over her chest. Optimus let out a tired sigh.

“Sari, it’s different with Sentinel, he's-” He tried, but he was quickly cut off by Bumblebee who didn't care to hear whatever defense Optimus had planned for that big chined jerk.

“Yeah Sari, it’s different because Sentinel chose to wear a  _ red _ scribble on his chest instead of a  _ purple _ one.” He snarled, his optics locked angrily on both Ratchet and Optimus. Ratchet just scowled in return. 

“You know very well there's more to it than that!” He growled “You know what that 'purple scribble' stands for!” Bumblebee gave him a hard glare.

“Maybe I don't.” He snarled at the medic. Sari suddenly spoke up.

“Yeah and he's done a lot of other good things too!” She began, “That time Bee was fighting Starscream alone? Blitzwing showed up and scared him away and then he saved Bee from falling off a skyscraper! He saved Bee from Megatron and brought him back to us! He even saved me from drowning! He can’t be all bad!” The room went dead silent for a moment as they processed what she'd just said.

“D-drowning?” Bulkhead stuttered, sounding faint. Sari seemed to realize what she'd just let slip, and she looked up at Bulkhead with a guilty look on her face.

“Oh… Whoops.”

“What do you mean he saved you from  _ drowning _ !?”

“Blitzwing saved me from drowning,” She repeated, “But, it really wasn’t that big of a deal.” She quickly added, not wanting them to get hung up on that part. “The point is that he's done some good things!” Bumblebee quickly nodded. 

“Yeah!” He said, jumping onto Sari's argument. “He even gave up being a con' just to save me! That has to count for something!” The room went quiet again, before Bulkhead hesitantly raised his voice.

“So what exactly do you want  us to do with him after we find him?”

“I want him to join us of course!” Bumblebee declared, as if it were obvious.

“You can’t seriously be suggesting that he join us?!” Ratchet shouted in disbelief, “He once ripped my fragging servo off and you want to invite him to live in our base?!”

”Yes, but he was still a Decepticon when he did that! He's not anymore!”

”Oh, so he just suddenly saw the error of his ways and decided to do a moral 180?!” Ratchet clearly wasn't buying it.

”He could've done worse!” Bumblebee tried, “He could've easily offlined you, but he only took your servo!”

”Wow, you are  _ so _ right Bee!” He said sarcastically, “He  _ only _ ripped my  _ servo _ off, that was so  _ generous _ of him! Why, he should basically be considered a saint! Maybe I should give him a thank you card? Or a 'Thanks for not being as big of an aft as you could've been' award?! How about a big round of fragging applause?!” Bumblebee curled his servos into fists, he was getting seriously fed up with Ratchet right now. He knew that it made sense for Ratchet to have doubts about the whole Blitzwing thing, but Bumblebee really didn’t like the way he was going about it.

“Okay,  so he might have done some bad things.” Bumblebee finally admitted, “But that was  _ before _ we got together! And now that he’s not a con' anymore he doesn't have to fight us at all! He could be a good Autobot or at least an ally if we only gave him a chance!” Ratchet let out a sigh of frustration and gave him a look that clearly screamed: 'you are a naive idiot.'

“Let me tell you this Bumblebee. I actually served in the great war and I've been fighting Decepticons longer than you've been online. I've heard about cons' that were just like Blitzwing. Cons' who insisted that they'd 'seen the light', or 'wanted to do good' and let me tell you this.” Ratchet walked closer until their faceplates were barely inches apart. “The entire Decepticon faction consists of liers, sadists, cowards, fanatics and greedy opportunists.” He continued in a steady voice as if he were simply stating facts. “Blitzwing may seem like a lost turbo puppy to you, but you've got to realize that it's all a facade. If we let him come here to lick his wounds, he’ll just try to find a way to use it to get back on his lord's good side, besides, I seriously doubt he'd be above taking out every person in this base if the opportunity presented itself to get back his leader's praise. But that’s only if we take into account the small chance that this whole thing  _ isn’t _ a big set up and Megatron really is displeased with him.”

“This isn’t a set up!” Bumblebee shouted, “Megatron really  _ did _ hurt Blitzwing, and Blitzwing really  _ did _ betray Megatron! There's no way this whole thing is part of some evil scheme!” He growled, “And for the record, I don’t know what cons' you've met, but Blitzwing is none of those things! He’s been kind and he's always put my health and safety first! He's protected me more times than I can count! I trust him with my spark!” 

Ratchet gave him an exasperated look.

“Okay, for the sake of argument, let's say he really does... ’love’ you, and has been cast out of the Decepticons. That's all well and good for you, but that doesn't mean he's not afraid to throw everyone else in this base under the bus for the chance to get back his masters' good graces”. Ratchet smiled mockingly, "But look on the bright side! If he does get back on Megatron's good side, he might just be allowed to keep you as his pet after bringing the rest of our helms to his beloved master!” Bumblebee grit his denta angrily, but Optimus beat him to the punch before he could give Ratchet what for.

“Bumblebee, If this whole thing really is a prerequisite to some kind of scheme, then allowing him to stay in our base could put all of us in severe danger. Besides, he's a con, they're deceptive by nature." He added thoughtfully, "The safest thing we can do right now is capture him and hand him over to the elite guard.” Bumblebee turned to his leader with a mix of both fury and horror. 

“No! We’re not doing that!” He screamed at his leader. He'd already promised himself that he'd never let that happen and he refused to stand idly by as his teammates threw the love of his life in prison. He was prepared to fight tooth and nail to prevent it. Optimus simply raised his servos and motioned for him to calm down.

“Bumblebee, listen I’m just being logical. Keeping such a dangerous mech around could put  _ all  _ of us in danger.” Optimus then gave him a scowl. “This whole thing is already complicated enough considering both you and Sari have been hanging out with a Decepticon alone and without anyone else's knowledge. What if he'd decided to hurt you or Sari? He’s unpredictable, and if for any reason he suddenly decided he wanted you dead then neither of you would've stood a chance”.

“He'd never do that.” Bumblebee snarled. How could Optimus still not understand? He'd already explained all the good Blitzwing had done, but he still refused to see him as anything more than an unstable brute! It didn't matter what he said at this point, Optimus had already made up his mind and refused to listen to anything that might suggest otherwise.“He's not crazy and he's not dangerous,” he said sternly. 

“I've got some dents that would say otherwise.” Ratchet huffed, but before Bumblebee could snap at him, Optimus abruptly spoke up. 

“Just… Keeping a mech like Blitzwing around could put us all at risk. He's a dangerous mech to have around. Your own connection with him resulted in you getting severely injured, and I'd rather not take the chance of putting anyone else in harm's way. That includes you. No, I think it would be far safer for everyone involved if he were just sent straight to the stockades.” He seemed to go quiet for a moment, seemingly thinking over if he should voice the next part or not. “I also think that your 'relationship' with this con' is something you shouldn’t pursue any further.”

Bumblebee just stared at Optimus in shock, his words echoing in the deepest parts of his processor. ‘Something you shouldn’t pursue’, Optimus could dance around the subject all he liked, but Bumblebee knew exactly what he was thinking.  _ ‘Blitzwing is a dangerous, unhinged, and evil Decepticon, and your relationship with him is wrong and nothing but a farce.'  _ But that just made Bumblebee energon boil. How dare he barge into his life and act like he could suddenly decide who Bumblebee chose to love!? 

_ 'Just who does he think is?!' _

“Just because you're our leader doesn't give you the right to decide who I’m allowed to love!” Bumblebee snarled, “Also that's not even fair! Prowl was allowed to keep the Dinobots!” He shouted angrily, as he motioned to the ninja bot stoically watching this all go down. “But I’m not allowed to even associate with Blitzwing?!” Optimus scowled down at the minibot.

“Prowl wasn’t  _ allowed _ to keep them. He directly went against my orders!” Optimus quickly corrected.

“Yeah maybe, but you still let them go free after you found out just because Prowl, ‘Sensed a spark in them’, but when I genuinely care about someone and think they deserve a second chance we're supposed to just hand them off to the elite guard?! How is any of that fair?! ” He yelled, “Or what about the Constructicons huh?! Bulkhead made friends with them and he still talked to them even after they turned to the cons'!”

“Well, that’s different.” Bulkhead quickly said, “They were basically new sparks and didn’t understand what they were doing. They’re not like Blitz-” Bumblebee quickly turned to him with a heated glare and Bulkhead seemed to shrink under the intensity of it, his next words dying on his glossa. 

Ratchet however, gave him a nod of encouragement, clearly agreeing with Bulkhead's line of thought.

“They'd only been alive for a handful of days when we fought them. Blitzwing is a full grown mech that knows exactly what he's doing! He has no excuse!” 

“He’s been dealing with a lot, okay!?” Bumblebee shouted in the triple changers defence.

“He’s been busy dealing with being a sadistic nutjob?”

“He’s not crazy.” Bumblebee growled darkly. How dare they talk about Blitzwing that way when they didn’t even know him. They acted as if every facet of his character could be narrowed down into that single derogatory word, as if there really was nothing else that might drive him to do the things he did.

“Are you even listening to yourself?!” Ratchet shouted, “Blitzwing is as crazy as they come!”

“Oh, and what are you? The mayor of sane town? The sane police!? Who gave you the right to decide if someone's crazy or not?! You've never even had a conversation with him!”

“Bee.” Bumblebee quickly turned his optics to the person who'd addressed him, and was met by Optimus. “You must understand that this is a very difficult situation.” He said gravely. 

“No It’s not.” Bumblebee growled, “We all know what the right choice is.” Optimus let out a frustrated sigh.

“It’s not as easy as simply letting Blitzwing join our team, you have to understand that.'' Bumblebee opened his mouth to object, but Optimus quickly cut him off. “I know you don’t think he’s dangerous or that he's tricking us, but betrayals never come from your enemies Bumblebee. If Blitzwing really is in danger of Megatron's wrath then he'll be safer in the stockade. Besides, I won't needlessly risk our safety, you must see that this is the best course of action for all of us.” Bumblebee defiantly shook his helm.

“It’s not a good idea!” Bumblebee shouted, making his opposition clear. His thoughts kept going in circles as he desperately tried to come up with something that might prove his point, when it suddenly hit him. He knew  _ exactly  _ how to turn the tables on Optimus.

“If  _ Blackarachnia _ suddenly showed up at our front door and said: ‘Hey I just quit the Decepticons and nearly died saving one of your teammates and now I want to be good’ would you just turn her away or send her off to the elite guard!? Well, would you?!” He shouted, already ninety percent sure what his answer would be. 

The Autobot leader went silent as he stared into Bumblebee's fiery expression. Whatever righteous anger he might've been feeling before had been swept away by an expression of internal conflict. Their optics stayed locked in a tense stare down until Bumblebee finally had enough of the drawn out silence.

“Well, come on then! Spit it out!” Bumblebee prompted “Would you or would you not send her away!?” Optimus was quiet for a moment longer before finally breaking optic contact with a sigh. 

“No. No I wouldn't ” He quietly admitted. It would seem Bumblebee had finally made his point after all. Still, Optimus' words only served to further infuriate Bumblebee and he approached his leader with a mighty scowl.

“Do you know what that’s called?” He hissed as he poked Optimus hard in the chest, “That’s called a double standard.” He then abruptly threw out his arms and began shouting, “So, let me get this straight, it’s fine to let Decepticons and other enemies join us or be our allies, but only so long as they're  _ your _ friends and not  _ mine _ !” Bumblebee was so angry at this point he almost felt sick. 

“You’re all a bunch of hypocrites!” He shouted, his optics making direct contact with everyone in the room. “Every single one of you have had relations with someone who didn't quite fit the Autobot mold! Optimus, was willing to give Blackarachnia a chance even after she almost killed Sari, Bulkhead brought the Constructicons to our base even though you knew they might be dangerous, Prowl stole away the Dinobots before they could be punished! All of you 'saw the good in them’ and were willing to ignore their faults so they could join our side! But when I tell you that I have a boyfriend who is actively trying to do better you completely ignore me! None of your 'friends' have ever made an attempt to change and most of them are still against us! Why is my request to bring Blitzwing to our side so different?!" He angrily stomped his ped. “None of this is fair! You're all just a bunch of moral standard hypocrites and I’m tired of it! I’m sick and tired of you acting like my opinions don't matter!”

“Bee you know your opinions do matter-” Bulkhead tried, but Bumblebee quickly snapped at him.

“Then fragging act like it, and stop making excuses for why my actions are wrong and yours are right!”

He didn't want to hear anymore fake platitudes when every action of theirs just proved to drive home the point that his viewpoint mattered so little.

The room went dead silent in the aftermath of Bumblebee's outburst. No one dared to speak for a while, least they break the fragile atmosphere and incur Bumblebee's wrath. But eventually enough time passed for Ratchet to gather himself, his rage an equal match to Bumblebees own.

“So, what if we bring him here and he doesn't follow our rules? Then what are we gonna do?” He asked, “Just give him a slap on the wrist and tell him to do better? Ground him? I'd like to believe this team could handle most things, but we can’t control Blitzwing. We can’t strong arm him the way Megatron does, and if he gets it into his mind to do something then he’ll do it regardless of our intervention.”

“No he won’t!” Bumblebee growled. Ratchet just rolled his optics.

“And what if he proves you wrong? What are we supposed to do then?! He’s bigger than all of us and he's got more battle knowledge and fire power than he knows what to do with!”

“He won’t do anything!” Bumblebee yelled. “He’ll listen to us if we just explain our rules!” 

“Why would he do that?! He’s a con' Bee! You can’t keep bots like that on a leash!”

Prowl, who had remained silent through their conversation, now apparently saw fit to offer up his own two cents.

“Wouldn’t keeping him on a leash, regardless of its strength, still be a better option than him having no leash at all?” He asked thoughtfully. Bulkhead nodded.

“I mean if he's just running free right now then that might actually make him more dangerous. Like, he's only looking out for himself at the moment, there are no rules to bind him anymore.” 

“That’s the part that worries me. A decepticon-”

“Ex-decepticon.” Bumblebee growled. Optimus sighed and continued.

“An  _ ex-decepticon _ running around with no rules or leadership could absolutely be more dangerous than one working directly under Megatron. Letting him run free could also put the humans at a greater risk since he'll have to look for provisions eventually. Not only will he be fighting for survival, but that could lead to him becoming desperate and taking extreme actions. Leaving him to his own devices is out of the question.”

“Then we find him and put him in prison.” Ratchet growled.

“No! We! Won’t!” Bumblebee shouted as he angrily stomped his ped, “If you imprison Blitzy then you might as well imprison me for treason!” Bumblebee remembered how different Wasp had been when he'd finally escaped from the stockades, and he wasn't about to let the same thing happen to Blitzwing.

“Don’t waste your life and feelings on a con' Bee! He’s not worth it!” Ratchet tried, but Bumblebee was well past the point of listening. 

“He  _ is _ worth it! If you’re so convinced that he's got to be imprisoned then I’m going too! At least then we can be together in the stockade.”

“We're not going to send you to the stockade-“ Optimus started, but Ratchet cut him off.

“Kid, this is just what Deceptions do, they play games with your mind! They make you think they can be nice and kind or whatever, but as soon as your back is turned they strike! For all we know he could've been planning for this exact scenario! Making us fight over him and isolating us! Or maybe he's just waiting to be allowed to join so he can offline us all in our recharge!” 

“He'd never do that!” Bumblebee yelled as if he were both offended and horrified Ratchet would even suggest such a thing. “He’s not like other Cons! I know Blitzy! He's had multiple chances to take me offline, but he never has!"

“He hasn’t  _ yet _ !” Ratchet corrected. “He hasn’t done anything yet because he still has uses for you!” 

“Don’t talk like you know him!” Bumblebee snapped, “You don't know anything about him!”

“I know enough to know that you still have a lot to learn when it comes to cons'. I've been at this longer than you kid, I know how these stories usually go.”

“You don't know anything! You've never seen the way he acts when we're together, so don’t act like you know scrap!” 

“Stop calling that three faced maniac pet names!” Ratchet suddenly shouted, “He’s a murderer!”

“He’s my boyfriend and I can-!”

“STOP!” Optimus' voice suddenly cut through the chaos of the living room, abruptly halting Ratchets and Bumblebees screaming match. He sounded both frustrated and completely done with the entire situation. “Stop it both of you! We’re not getting anywhere by yelling at each other. We all need to handle the situation in a better way because clearly this isn’t getting us anywhere!”

Sari suddenly piped up.

“How about we put it to a vote?” She proposed, “Everyone for Blitzwing living with us raise their hands.”

Both Bumblebee and Sari immediately raised their hands. Bulkhead looked between the two of them and then back to Optimus and Ratchet, seeming very conflicted.

“I-I abstain from voting.” Bulkhead said, and quickly took a step back. Prowl joined not long after, apparently wanting no part in it.

“We can’t decide this with a vote!” Ratchet snapped. "And even if we did, Sari's vote wouldn't count!”

“Why not?” Bumblebee snapped, “She’s a part of the team too!”

“Yes she is, but she's also human! She wasn't there for the majority of the Decepticon Autobot war like we were or suffered the consequences of it!”

“Do you think humans don't have their own wars?!” Sari hissed at him, “I might not completely understand your stupid war, but this isn’t even about the war! This is about one person! I've also actually spent time with Blitzwing, so I know more about him than you! And I’m with Bee! I think Blitzwing would be a good Autobot if you just gave him a chance!” 

“A chance!? We're supposed to give that freak-”

“He’s not a freak!” Bumblebee screamed loud enough to hurt his throat. 

“Stop it!” Optimus cut in again, seeing as everyone had quickly descended into needless bickering. “I've heard both your arguments and your personal opinions on this matter, and I can see now that talking this out between ourselves won’t lead to anything. So, as the team leader, the decision of whether or not to let Blitzwing join us falls to me.” The room was silent for a few minutes before Bumblebee finally worked up the courage to speak up. 

“So what’s your decision then? Can he come?” Optimus tiredly rubbed his optics.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow Bumblebee. I need time to process all of this.” Bumblebee scowled, not liking that answer at all. There was no reason he should need more time for such a simple conundrum, when the right answer was right in front of his optics.

“You do that.” Bumblebee hissed, as he turned to face the base's main entrance. “I’m gonna' go out and look for my boyfriend.” Bumblebee barely had time to take a single step before a firm servo landed on his shoulder. 

“No you’re not.” Optimus said firmly. Bumblebee turned around, looking up at his leader with disbelieving optics.

“W-what?”

“I said you’re not going after him.” Optimus repeated. Bumblebee stubbornly tried to wriggle out from underneath Optimus' servo, but the Prime only tightened his grip.

“Let me go! I have to go find him!” Bumblebee cried, but Optimus ignored his protests.

“You aren't permitted to leave this base, and until further notice you're now under house arrest.”

“What!?” Bumblebee shouted, "You can't do that!" 

“I can and I will." Optimus said firmly, "From now on you're to stay right here where we can keep an optic on you. You’re no longer allowed to leave without an accompanied escort and there will be no contact with Blitzwing or anyone else until I say otherwise. Do I make myself clear?" 

“You can’t do this to me!” Bumblebee yelled, his voice an angry mixture of desperation and hurt. “I have to find him! He's completely alone and on a planet he's not even familiar with! He needs me!”

”Needs you? All alone?” Ratchet asked incredulously, “Do you even hear yourself?! You're worrying about a Decepticon! Don’t talk about him like he's some poor, defenseless sparkling. The fact that even the Deceptions didn't want him anymore should tell you something!” Bumblebee purposely ignored Ratchet and continued to put the majority of his focus on Optimus. 

“He’s not dangerous, it’s gonna be fine!  _ I’m _ gonna be fine!” He tried again.

“I’m not going to waste time arguing about this.” He said with a startling amount of finality, “This is  _ not _ negotiable. You  _ are _ going to stay right here.” Optimus then let go and instead crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at the minibot with an unyielding expression. Bumblebee gave him the best glare he could muster and curled his servos into fists as he fought to keep the tears at bay. He was furious with how Optimus was treating him, how could all of his teammates just suddenly turn on him?

”Why won’t any of you listen to me!? Why don’t you trust me?!” Bumblebee yelled at all of them. 

That seemed to be the final straw for Optimus.

“After you knowingly went behind our backs?! After you decided to have a secret relationship with a known Decepticon?! After you lied to our faceplates for three months?! Now you expect us to trust you?!”

The room went uncomfortably silent after Optimus' outburst, and it seemed as if only then did he realize the true gravity of what he had said. Unfortunately, by then it was all too late, and damage had been done.

“...And you wondered why I kept this from you.” Bumblebee growled hatefully, “I knew you wouldn’t understand.” He then turned on his heel and ran towards his room.

“Bee, wait-“ Optimus called out weakly, the rage having completely left his voice “Bumble-”

He was cut off by Bumblebee giving him one last glare and slamming his door shut hard enough to make the walls shake. 

The rest of the base was left in silence.

* * *

No one dared to say anything in the wake of Bumblebee's departure. The sound of quiet raindrops pattering against the bases roof soon drowned out everything else, and it remained the only sound for some time.

Everyone just looked at each other unsure as to what to say. The first one to make their exit was Prowl who walked towards his own room without a word. Next was Ratchet who let out an irritated sigh and offered Optimus what little encouragement he could.

“He'll get over it once he realizes how naive he’s being.” Ratchet said assuredly, “I'm sure he’ll see reason.” He then made his way back towards the medical bay.

The remaining parties watched him leave, but as soon as he was out of sight Sari turned to the Autobot leader with an angry glare.

“Do you really not trust him?” She asked. Optimus, who'd been preoccupied with his own thoughts ever since Bumblebee had left, looked down at her and shook his helm.

“No, I do trust him it’s just-

“Then why did you say all that?” She hissed. Optimus just let out a tired sigh.

“I don’t know Sari… This whole thing, it’s just… It's such a mess.” He said softly as he sat down on the sofa. “I’ll… I’ll have a chat with him later. I think right now what we all need is just a moment to collect ourselves.” Sari just gave him a sullen look.

“Bee told me that the reason he never told you guys was because he was terrified you'd all flip out and try to separate them.” She explained with a growled “It seems he was right to be worried.” She glared up at him, her disapproval of how he'd handled this undeniable. Optimus just looked at her as he tried to think of a way to explain his actions. 

“Sari you've got to understand, this is a very complicated situation. Decepticons and Autobots have been-”

“It’s not complicated at all if you ask me,” she said with a huff. “Bee's my best friend, and if Blitzwing makes him happy then I think we should give him a chance! His happiness  _ has _ to be more important than this stupid old war!” Optimus didn’t respond, and just continued to look at her sadly. Seeing that she wasn't going to get anything else, Sari let out a huff and turned her attention to Bulkhead.

“And why didn’t you say anything huh?! Why didn’t you help me and stand up for your so-called  _ best friend _ !?”

Bulkhead seemed surprised to have suddenly become the target of her fury and he wilted under the intensity of her glare.

“Sari I just… I need time to think. This all came so suddenly.” He said, trying to defend himself. “Like, I just found out my best friend is dating someone who's actively been trying to kill us.” Sari let out frustrated noise and stomped her foot angrily. 

“Fine! Do whatever you want!” She yelled, “But I’m going to check up on my _ best friend _ because I actually  _ care _ and  _ support _ him!” She then stormed towards Bumblebee’s room. She'd assumed she'd be making the trip alone, but she quickly noticed a pair of heavier footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw that Bulkhead was following her. She gave him a questioning look.

“I-I'd like to see him too.” He said a bit sheepishly, “I am his best friend after all, and well... I don’t wanna just leave him alone.” Sari gave him a hard look before eventually shrugging.

“Fine. But don’t be mean to him.” She warned. 

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the minibots door, and Bulkhead knocked gently.

“Bee, is it alright if Sari and I come in?” He asked, but there was no response. Bulkhead looked to Sari for direction and she motioned for him to try again. “Bee, can we  _ please _ come in?” Again there was no response. Bulkhead seemed to think for a moment before trying the doorknob, to his surprise it was unlocked and it opened easily under his servo. 

Bulkhead stopped pushing once the door was only slightly ajar and listened for any motion from inside. Neither of them heard anything. 

“Bumblebee, we’re coming in.” Bulkhead warned. He waited one more second just in case before he opened the door completely. Both of them looked inside, scanning the room for any sign of the yellow minibot, but to their shared astonishment they realized he wasn’t there. 

_ Instead _ , they saw a rope tied to the berth, a box on top of it, and an open window. 

Bumblebee was long gone.


	14. Gone with the wind

Bumblebee drove feverishly as he raced through the rain slick streets of Detroit. He wasn't even sure where he was going at this point. All he knew was that he had to go.

The rain hadn't started that long ago, but already he could feel it leaking through the gaps in his armor and chilling him down to his protoform. Bumblebee steadfastly ignored his growing discomfort though as he continued forward with a single minded focus.

“Blitzwing!” He called out, his optics constantly scanning for any trace of the missing triple changer.

Suddenly, a voice came crackling over his commlink and for a split second Bumblebee thought it might be Blitzwing calling. Unfortunately, those hopes were abruptly dashed when the owner of the voice made themselves known. 

“Bumblebee!” Yep, that was Optimus. “If you don’t get your aft back to base this instan-!” Bumblebee let out an angry scoff and quickly hung up; blocking Optimus' contact for good measure. He couldn’t deal with Optimus right now. Their earlier argument was still fresh in his processor, and even just thinking about the Autobot leader made his energon boil. Besides, right now he had more important things to worry about. Like tracking down Blitzwing before Megatron did.

Still, Optimus' unwarranted call had given him an idea. Keeping an optic out, he opened up his personal commlink and tried contacting Blitzwing directly.

“Blitzwing?” He asked, speaking into his commlink, “Are you there?” He was met with empty silence. “Blitzwing, come on. If you can hear this please answer.” His voice was thick with concern, and for a moment he simply waited, crossing his digits and hoping with all his spark that the big mech would reply. But the line remained dead, and as the minutes ticked by without so much as a peep from the triple changer, Bumblebee became more and more worried.

‘Okay, okay, okay.’ He thought frantically. ‘It’s fine, everything's fine. This might not even mean anything.’

The next few minutes were spent desperately trying to reassure himself that nothing bad had happened to his boyfriend. He hadn’t spent that long arguing with his team, had he? Blitzwing had to still be nearby. Maybe the weather was just jamming their signals? Unfortunately, for every rational explanation he came up with, at least two worst case scenarios followed. What if he was in trouble? What if he was already too late and Megatron had found him first? Every second that went by only added to the terror slowly filling Bumblebee's spark. 

Eventually, he was able to shake himself out of his spiraling thoughts and he began thinking of his next course of action. His commlink idea had quickly proven to be a dead end, so he'd just have to go with the next best thing. 

‘If I was an ex-con hiding from my murderous, warmongering boss, where would I go?’ He thought on this for barely a second, before the answer hit him. Finally with an actual lead to follow, he pressed his gas pedal as far down as it would go and shot off towards his and Blitzwings usual meeting spot. 

He didn’t think he had ever driven so fast in his entire function. He swerved dangerously in between cars and the readings on his speedometer kept going up until it eventually eclipsed itself. He knew he was breaking several laws with his reckless driving, but all he could think about was getting there as quickly as possible; regardless of the method. 

He made a sharp turn once he noticed the familiar gravel road and he cut his speed as the abandoned warehouse came into view. 

It’s door was wide open, as was their usual habit, but no lights seemed to have been turned on inside. Still, this didn’t deter Bumblebee.

He'd barely come to a complete stop before he transformed, the sheer velocity sending him skidding across the ground. Bumblebee didn’t miss a step though, and simply used the leftover momentum to run inside.

“Blitzwing?!” He yelled as soon as he'd crossed the threshold. His voice echoed hauntingly as it reverberated throughout the empty space. He looked around frantically, hoping to spot a glimpse of a purple wing or a piece of tan plating. Bumblebee walked in further. The silence eating away at his already frazzled nerves. Without thinking about it further, he began darting around the room in a frenzy as he tossed aside empty boxes.

‘He's got to be here!’ He thought in desperation. ‘He's got to be! I-I don’t know where else he'd go...’ Bumblebee moved one last box and looked out at the chaos he created. He'd basically turned the entire building upside down and he hadn’t found anything. 

Blitzwing had never been here.

Bumblebee suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of dread fall over him.

“Blitzwing!” He cried, hoping against that if he simply yelled loud enough Blitzwing might eventually hear him. “Blitzwing!” He tried again, this time even louder. His voice echoed in the dark emptiness of the warehouse before fading away.

‘Where is he?’ he thought, almost on the verge of hysteria. ‘There's nowhere else for him to go!’ Bumblebee suddenly felt his spark sink as an awful thought entered his helm. ‘H-he couldn’t have possibly gone back to Megatron... Right?' Sure, Bumblebee had always known that Blitzwing was nothing but loyal to both Megatron and the Decepticon faction, but surely he wouldn't have…?’ Bumblebee quickly shook his helm. No, no that wasn't possible. Because regardless of what anyone else might've thought about Blitzwing's intelligence, Bumblebee knew first hand just how resourceful and cunning the triple changer could be. There was no way he'd go back after all the trouble they'd gone through just to escape. Surely, Megatron didn’t have such an iron grip that it'd cause Blitzwing to go against his basic instincts! He was probably just hiding somewhere nearby. Bumblebee nodded to himself as he latched onto that last spark of hope. ‘Yeah, Blitzwings probably just hiding out somewhere! Maybe he's just waiting for a good opportunity to show up!’ Unfortunately, these small reasurrences did little to calm the increasingly worried pulsing of his spark.

On shaky legs Bumblebee eventually forced himself to walk to the back wall and start up the generator. It made a low hum as it began to power on, and before long the interior of the building was filled with the soft glow of string lights. With the power on, Bumblebee hoped that it might function as a lighthouse; a beacon shining through the dark and stormy night.

‘He’ll be fine.’ He told himself again as he pressed his back against the wall, sliding down until he eventually slumped to the cold floor. ‘He _has_ to be fine.’ His digits trembled slightly as he pilfered the generators tarp and wrapped the thin material around his shoulders. ‘I’ll wait here a little longer, maybe he'll show up later.’ He wasn't sure if he really believed that or not, but right now it was the last sliver of hope he had. If he didn’t have that he might fall apart completely. 

He pulled the tarp closer and huddled into himself, holding onto the cheap fabric as tightly as he dared ‘He’ll be fine, he has to be fine, because if he isn’t…’ Bumblebee couldn’t bring himself to finish that thought as he felt the tears he'd tried so hard to hold at bay finally run down his cheeks. 

* * *

“Bumblebee! If you don’t get your aft back to base this instan-!” Optimus heard a loud scoff from the other end before the line abruptly went dead. Bumblebee had _hung up on him_ ! “Don’t you dare try to get away from this!” Optimus shouted angrily, “Bumblebee!” His yelling grew in volume, but the line remained silent. “I can’t believe this.” Optimus muttered angrily as he finally stopped his attempts to call Bumblebee's commlink. He then looked back to the scene that'd been left in Bumblebee's room. His optics shifted from the box on his berth to the rope hanging out the window with a _very_ unamused expression.

“I tell him he’s under house arrest, and the first thing he does is sneak out.” Optimus mumbled as he rubbed his temples. “I don’t have time for this!” He said suddenly, as he turned around to where Bulkhead and Sari were waiting by the entrance.

“So... What do we do now?” Bulkhead asked quietly, Optimus let out an exhausted sigh.

“We go after him. If Megatron really is out looking for Blitzwing, then Bumblebee could already be in grave danger. We can’t wait for him to come back on his own, we have to find him now.” He quickly exited Bumblebee's room and activated the base's main monitor, looking up Bumblebee's spark signature. There was silence for a moment as Optimus scowled at the tiny dot on screen.

“Where is he even going? He’s moving _away_ from the city!”

Sari watched the screen in silence before she abruptly realized she recognized the route Bumblebee was taking.

“Hey! I think I might know where he's headed!” She yelled excitedly, “The spot where Blitz and Bee used to meet up is right around there! If he’s out there looking for Blitzwing then that's gotta be where he's going! I've been there once before so I can totally show the way!” She said, looking up at Bulkhead and Optimus with a proud grin. Neither bot looked particularly happy about her declaration, as they were once again reminded that Bumblebee had not only exposed Sari to the volatile mech, but also allowed her to become their accomplice. 

Optimus simply shook his helm and gave her a stern look.

“Don’t think I've forgotten about your part in all of this.” Optimus said, as he scowled down at her. “You're in just as much trouble as Bumblebee is right now, and for the next month, you’re _grounded_.” Optimus said firmly. Sari jerked towards him and gave him a deep scowl of her own. 

“You can’t do that!” She cried, “You’re not my dad!” 

“That’s true. I'm not.” Optimus said with narrowed optics. “But I am your caretaker and what I say goes.” Sari simply crossed her arms and pouted at him. 

“Then I won't tell you where Bee's going and you'll just have to wait for him to reach his destination on his own. And I mean, who _knows_ how long he'll even stay there.” Optimus frowned at her ultimatum, but seemed to realize himself that they'd be wasting precious time if they were forced to wait around for Bumblebee to stop moving. If they moved _right now_ , they might just be able to catch up with him before he decided to start moving again. Optimus eventually let out a defeated sigh.

“Very well, we’ll go out together and-”

“Not you.” She said suddenly, cutting off whatever plan Optimus had been about to explain. He looked down at her with confusion. “You’re not coming!” She reiterated, “Me and Bulkhead can go, but you have to stay here!”

“Sari,” Bulkhead said softly, “Don’t you think-” Sari quickly turned towards him with a scowl.

“He’s the reason Bee left in the first place!” She shouted, angrily pointing an accusing finger at the Prime. “He and Ratchet made him upset enough that he felt he had to sneak out of his own base! I won't put him through that again!” 

The room's atmosphere turned quiet in the wake of her anger.

Optimus looked slightly hurt by her summation of events but he eventually shook it off in favor of a more serious expression.

“I can’t just let you both leave without backup.” Optimus said sternly, “If he really is going to the place where he usually meets up with Blitzwing, then Blitzwing could be there as well.” 

Sari shot him a glare.

“Either me and Bulkhead go, or nobody goes!” she said again, defiantly crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sari, Bumblebee might be in danger-” Optimus tried, his tone becoming increasingly irritated. Once again he was cut off.

“In danger of Blitzwing?!” she cried, “His _boyfriend._ The guy who _loves_ him and was willing to betray the Decepticons just to protect him? _That_ Blitzwing?!”

“Sari, please be reasonable-” Optimus tried again, but Sari was done listening.

“Either me and Bulk go, or no one!” It was clear she wasn't going to change her mind. Optimus locked eyes with her and for a moment as they stood at an impasse. Finally, with a huff of resignation, Optimus turned away.

“Alright.” He said with a tired sigh. He then turned to Bulkhead “Try to get him back here in one piece and if there's any, and I mean _any_ sign of trouble, you are to contact me _immediately._ ” His tone left no room for argument. Bulkhead quickly nodded his assent to the order, as Sari made a little victory first bump.

“Well, what are we waiting for?!” She yelled, turning to Bulkhead “Let’s go!”

* * *

Bumblebee didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, before he heard the distant sounds of a vehicle pulling up outside.

Even with the knowledge that he was no longer alone, Bumblebee couldn’t find it in himself to get up. Whoever was out there right now didn't matter, there was only one person he was waiting for, and they didn’t have a car vehicle mode. 

He then heard the sound of a car door opening along with the familiar sound of a transformation sequence.

“Is this it?” That was Bulkhead, Bumblebee realised. 

“Yep, this is it. ” Oh, it seemed Sari was here as well. 

“Bumblebee?” He heard Bulkhead call out as they both moved closer to his location. He could hear the change in their footsteps as they stepped from wet earth and onto the hard concrete of the derelict building. 

“Bee?” Sari called out, “Are you in here?” Bumblebee didn’t respond and simply hunkered down further so he wouldn't have to see them. 

“Bumblebee?” Bulkhead tried again.

“Just leave me alone!” Bumblebee shouted at last. He didn’t want to see anyone right now. Sari’s company might've ordinarily been welcomed, but she'd brought Bulkhead with her, and he'd clearly been on the whole ‘let’s throw Blitzwing in prison' side of the argument. “If you’re here to drag me back to base, then you can forget it!” He yelled, his voice coming out weaker than he would've liked. He sniffled wetly as he reached up to stubbornly wipe away the evidence that he'd been crying.

He heard the approaching footsteps stop for a moment.

“We’re not here to force you to come back.” Bulkhead reassured gently, “We just want to make sure you’re okay.” 

“Make sure I’m _okay_?” Bumblebee asked in disbelief, “My boyfriend is _missing_! Megatron could be offlining him this very minute! And even if he's not, my friends are just waiting to throw him in prison! I've looked everywhere, I can’t find him on my own, and not only will none of my friends help me, but now everyone back at base _hates_ _me_!” The pair of footsteps slowly drew closer in the wake of his outburst and eventually a large servo lifted the tarp from his still form.

Reluctantly, he looked up and was met by Bulkhead, whose large optics looked down at him with open concern. Bumblebee then felt a spot of warmth against his side as Sari wrapped her small arms around his middle. It was this small offer of both comfort and easy acceptance that eventually caused a fresh wave of tears to roll down his cheeks. Bumblebee sniffled weakly as he used the back of his servo to wipe them away. He then reached down so he could pull Sari into a proper hug.

Both of them just held each other for a moment before Bumblebee finally let her down. With her feet back on solid ground, Sari looked up at his tear stained face with concern.

“Are you gonna be okay?” She asked softly, to which Bumblebee merely shook his helm. His response only caused her to frown worriedly as she reached forward and took his servo, holding it tightly.

Bulkhead eventually joined their little bubble as he slowly took a seat next to Bumblebee. For a moment they just sat there in silence, none of them quite knowing what to say.

“I guess now I know why you didn’t want me to call Blitzwing crazy anymore.” Bulkhead said softly, his own uncertainty heavy in his voice. Bumblebee just let out a tired huff.

“It's because he’s not crazy.” he muttered, “And I’m tired of everyone calling him that when they don’t even know him.”

“Well, I’m sorry for calling him that.” Bulkhead said earnestly, but even this genuine apology failed to lessen Bumblebee's foul mood in the slightest, If anything, it just made him angrier. Bumblebee turned to the larger mech with an icy glare.

“Don’t act like you suddenly care about him.” Bumblebee hissed, “You've already shown that you couldn't give a slag what happens to him.” Bulkhead simply shook his helm.

“I _do_ care.” He said, this time with conviction, “I care because you care.” 

“Then why didn’t you help me?” He sneered. The open bitterness of his question caused Bulkhead to fall silent. 

“It’s just that…” He started slowly, “Blitzwing has been trying to offline all of us almost from day one, and I've never seen him act anything but…” Bulkhead stalled for a moment as he silently tried to think of the right word. “Well, _violent_ and malevolent before today. He's always shooting at us or trying to tear our plating off, and when you suddenly come out and insist that he can actually be good-natured and kind, w-well it's just really hard for me to see past that perception of him.” He said, “I just can’t imagine him being _anything_ but horrible and malicious.” 

Bumblebee went quiet as he listened to Bulkhead explain himself. He knew logically the larger mech had a point. It'd taken Bumblebee himself a long time to see past his own misgivings, and he could still remember when he himself had viewed Blitzwing in much of the same way. Unfortunately, none of that made this whole thing suck any less. 

He _wanted_ his team to get to know Blitzwing the way he had, he _wanted_ them to be accepting of his relationship, but the longer he stewed over the prospect the more it felt like an impossible pipe dream. He'd always known that it would be hard for them to get over their own bias, but now not only did it feel like they were rejecting his relationship, it felt like they were rejecting _him_. How could he make them change their minds when every argument felt like screaming at a brick wall? Maybe it was truly impossible, maybe they'd never see Blitzwing as anything but an evil, maniacal, ruthless-.

“But you and Sari seemed to have seen a different side of him.” Bulkhead continued, halting the spiral of hopeless Bumblebee had started to fall into. ”I still don’t trust Blitzwing, but I do trust you and Sari and if you think he's worth trusting, then well...” He went quiet for a moment seemingly thinking, before he looked back at Bumblebee with a somewhat hesitant smile. “Then I believe you when you say he can be good.” Bumblebee just blinked up at the big mech in disbelief, his processor failing to fully grasp what his best friend had said. 

“Yes!” Sari cried, doing a small victory dance, “You see?! One down, only three more to go!” She said with a big smile. But Bumblebee didn’t seem to hear her as he continued to stare at Bulkhead in shocked silence.

“Y-you’re serious?” He asked, still feeling hesitant to believe that someone else on team prime, who wasn’t human, had actually agreed to take Bumblebee's side. Bulkhead just gave him a nod before letting out a nervous chuckle.

“I mean it'll probably take some time for me to readjust, but if you can be patient with me, then yeah. I’ll try my best to help out and understand what you see in him.” Bumblebee went quiet again before he slowly leaned his weight against Bulkhead's side, his optics sliding shut as he basked in his friend's acceptance. 

“Thank you.” He whispered quietly. They remained that way for some time before Bumblebee eventually broke the silence.

“So, are you mad that we didn’t tell you about me and Blitz?” Bumblebee asked suddenly. Sari seemed caught off guard at being dragged into conversation, but she remained silent as they both waited for Bulkhead's response.

”Well… I'm not mad that you guys didn’t tell me, but I can’t say I’m not a little hurt.” Bulkhead began, “You two, my _best friend_ s were hiding a huge secret from me. It’s not fun being the only one left out.” Bumblebee nodded silently.

“I’m really sorry about that. I was just… Scared I guess. I was afraid you and the others wouldn’t take it well and would hate me when you found out. I also didn’t want to risk being separated from Blitzwing. I didn’t want to lie about it, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“No one hates you.” Bulkhead said, with the same easy conviction. “Sure, they might be upset that you kept this whole thing a secret, but no one hates you.” 

“Yeah!” Sari agreed, “How could anyone hate you!? You’re great!” She was clearly trying to cheer him up.

Bumblebee just let out a weak chuckle.

“Say that again when we get back to base and Optimus catches sight of me.” He said, his voice holding a sort of cold humor. They all stayed quiet for a moment as they let his words sink in.

“He was really worried about you.” Bulkhead said softly, “That's why me and Sari were allowed to come here, so he could be sure you were okay. He really cares about you.” Bumblebee remained silent as he let his processor wander back to thoughts of the Autobot leader. 

“What if he says no? What am I supposed to do then?” His voice trembled as he asked the question that still hung heavy in his spark. “I-I don’t want to leave you guys, but I can’t just abandon Blitzwing either.” Bulkhead looked worried as he took note of the fragility in Bumblebee's voice.

“I’m sure it'll all work out,” Bulkhead said, trying to ease his worries. “We’ll find Blitzwing together and everything will be alright.” Bumblebee heard what he was saying, but at this point it did little to help his worsening mood and the lump that had formed in his throat.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.” He said, his voice wet as tears once again starting to roll down his cheeks. Things had been piling up all day and suddenly, it'd all become too much to bear. “No one was supposed to get hurt!” He cried, “Me and Blitz weren't doing anything wrong! All we wanted was to kiss a-and hug and cuddle a-and-and-.” He was cut off as he continued to sob harshly. “No one was supposed to get hurt...”

“Hey, hey there.” Bulkhead said, seemingly surprised by the sudden appearance of the minibots grief. “C'mon It’s gonna be okay.” He said, pulling his friend into a hug. His gentle words were appreciated, but they helped little as Bumblebee continued to sob in his arms.

“I just wanted to love him in peace! It wasn’t supposed to go this way!” He said in-between heavy sobs, “No one was supposed to find out, none of it was supposed to get this-this-this _messy_!”

“I know, I know, shhh.” Bulkhead said, as Bumblebee continued to cling to him. “Just calm down little buddy, everything's going to be alright.”

“Yeah!” Sari agreed, joining their hug as well. “Now that we're here, we can help you look for him! So, please don’t don't be sad.” She said, giving him a soft smile. “Besides, isn't Blitzwing like super strong? I'm sure he can handle himself!” 

“Yeah.” Bulkhead agreed, “He’s a Decep- well, _ex_ -Decepticon,“ He corrected himself, “They’re known for being crafty, he's probably just holding up somewhere waiting for the storm to end.”

Their words of comfort helped soothe some of Bumblebee’s lingering anxiety, and the shared belief that Blitzwing was most likely just hiding somewhere, _instead_ of being finished off by Megatron, was welcomed.

“We have to go out and find him.” Bumblebee mumbled into Bulkhead's plating,“He’s still all alone out there.” He felt Bulkhead shake his helm.

“It’s pitch black outside and it's only going to get worse if the storm keeps up.” He said, “It'll be almost impossible to find him now.” Bumblebee looked back towards the entrance, and with a heavy spark, he realised Bulkhead was right. The rain was still coming down hard outside and they were probably pushing eight pm. If it wasn’t for the lights he'd turned on earlier, Bumblebee seriously doubted he'd be able to see his servo in front of his own faceplate. “We should recharge here for the time being and try searching for him again first thing in the morning.” Bulkhead continued, “And if Optimus gives us the ok to bring him to base, then maybe the rest of the guys can help us look.”

Bumblebee thought about Bulkhead's offer for a moment, before responding in a voice still filled with concern. 

“But what if he needs my help?”

“He's got your number right?” Sari suddenly chimed in, “So, if he needs help he can always just call you, and he also knows where this place is as well as our base! He knows how to find us.” 

“But I already tried to comm him.” Bumblebee said, “And he didn’t answer...” Sari seemed to think for a moment before offering up her own theory.

“Maybe… He just needs to be alone right now?” She suggested, “Sometimes people just need a little space after going through a drastic change.” Sari’s advice did make a certain amount of sense. It could very well be that Blitzwing was still trying to come to terms with the whole situation and just needed a little time to himself, but even if that was the case, Bumblebee couldn’t help feeling worried. Still, both Sari and Bulkhead had managed to make some valid points, and Bumblebee knew he was outnumbered. So, after another moment of tense silence he let out a tired sigh of defeat. 

“Okay… We’ll do it your way, but as soon as it turns bright outside I'm going back out to look for him.” Bulkhead gave him a nod and a reassuring smile.

“Of course.”

“We’ll _all_ go and look for him!” Sari agreed. Bumblebee simply nodded his helm, and tiredly leaned back against Bulkhead's side. The harrowing events of everything that had happened were finally starting to catch up with him and Bumblebee found it impossible to ignore his growing exhaustion. So despite the worry still residing deep in his spark it didn’t take long for Bumblebee to fall into recharge. 

* * *

Someone had once warned Optimus that he should always expect the unexpected. Someone else, most likely Ratchet, had also told him that when Bumblebee was added to the equation stupidly was almost inevitable. Unfortunately, despite all the possible situations Optimus had prepared himself for, he never would've expected this.

When he'd taken the position as the leader of a band of misfit, space bridge mechanics, he never would've suspected that he was getting involved in a cross faction romance between one of his crewmembers and Megatron's top lieutenant. None of that had been written down in the list of job requirements. 

It had gotten fairly late at this point, but despite this he didn’t feel tired in the least. Exhausted? _Absolutely._ But not tired. 

Optimus let out a sigh as he looked back to monitor where he'd accumulated literally hundreds of relevant files. 

Documents listing Blitzwing's known involvement during the war, reports of what little they knew about the triple changer upgrade, and eyewitness reports of his apparent mental instability. Optimus had also opened the entire autobot library as he searched for Decepticons who'd deserted. There were, unsurprisingly, very few cases of this and even fewer who had willingly switched sides to the Autobots. Along with all of this, he searched for any laws governing cross faction relationships and the judgments handed out to the select few who'd engaged in such activities. He'd even looked up laws and guidelines for POWs and those who were in need of protection from the Decepticon faction. 

In short, Optimus had brought up nearly everything he could think of to better prepare himself for the situation at hand. 

The problem was, he had no idea if any of these things would even prove to be useful. He'd forced himself to read nearly every document that even loosely pertained to their current affairs, but so far they'd only served as a vague starting point. Optimus didn’t like feeling so uncertain, but unfortunately there was no option to bring in an outside party who might help guide him through this. 

Optimus knew he needed to think through this carefully, because like it or not, he was currently having to act as both judge and jury. They couldn't go through the proper channels in this case, and even just asking for someone who actually knew the law could mean exposing themselves. And From what Optimus had already absorbed from his short foray in the law, he knew there was a chance Bumblebee would be classified as a traitor and be punished as such. So, by working this out between themselves Optimus hoped to avoid that possibility.

Because Bumblebee might've been a little flaky, but Optimus had never doubted that he was a loyal Autobot. There wasn't a bad piston in his entire frame, and the Prime had no doubt that when he'd started this relationship with Blitzwing it had never been to undermine the Autobot cause. If his vehemence in their earlier argument was anything to go by, it was because the minibot genuinely believed that Blitzwing loved him. Bumblebee was very much an emotionally driven individual, and that had gotten him into trouble more than once, so it made sense that his love for Blitzwing would drive him to act somewhat irrationally. There was zero chance that Bumblebee had ever planned to betray them to the Decepticons.

Optimus just continued to look at the scattered documents as his vision began to blur. Eventually, he placed his helm in his servos and let out a deep sigh of frustration.

“How are you holding up?” Optimus jerked at the unexpected question and spun towards the owner of that voice, who watched his less than graceful flailing through an amused visor. Seeing that it was only Prowl, Optimus let out a shaky exhale and placed a servo over his still thrumming spark chamber.

“Primus, you startled me.” Optimus mumbled, before he glanced back at the montor, “It’s a mess...” He finally answered. Prowl looked up at the screen as well and gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

“Bumblebee's certainly outdone himself this time.” Prowl responded, “I think this may be the worst mess he's gotten himself, and us, into so far.” Optimus just gave him a sad smile in return, unsure if he should laugh or cry.

“Anyway,” Optimus said, changing topic. “You’re up late.” 

“So are you,” Prowl pointed out. Optimus just let out another sigh and looked at all the accumulated documents he'd brought up.

“I've got to get something out of today's affairs, if I don’t then how can we hope to move forward? I'll recharge once I've found a solution.” Something that had gnawed at his processor suddenly came to the forefront and turned back to the ninja bot, ”I noticed you didn't have a lot to say during today's argument.” 

“I didn’t feel the need to,” Prowl explained. “You, Bumblebee and Ratchet seemed just fine screaming your helms off without any of my input.” Optimus cringed at the reminder of how poorly he'd handled that situation, though to be fair, a lot had happened even before the stress of Bumblebee's revolt, so poor decision making was somewhat to be expected. “I supposed I also just needed time to come to terms with my own feelings on the matter,” He added. They both remained silent for a moment. “Would it be alright if I brainstormed with you?” Those words finally managed to drag Optimus out of his funk.

“What?”

“I said can we brainstorm the matter? I think it would give us a better perspective, and thus help us come to a more informed decision.” Opimus looked at him strangely for a moment before motioning for him to take a seat.

“Alright.” 

Prowl grabbed one of the many empty barrels littering the base's living area and sat down directly across from Optimus. Optimus himself just let out a short chuckle “So what’s your argument for Blitzwing not joining?” He asked, Prowl simply looked at him, his expression devoid of obvious emotion.

“Who said I was against him joining?” 

His response managed to catch Optimus off guard, and for a moment he just stared at the other in genuine astonishment. 

“You… You’re not against him joining?” He asked, still feeling stunned. “You _want_ him to join us?” 

“ _Want_ is a strong word.” Prowl corrected, “I'm simply not as opposed to the idea as the rest of you seem to be.” Optimus gave a slow nod.

“So you're of the mind that he really was cast out and that his love for Bumblebee is real?” He asked, unable to keep the scepticism out of his voice. Prowl went quiet for a moment before responding.

“I’m not sure.” He said at last, “I didn’t particularly focus on that part because unfortunately I know so little about it. What I _do_ know is that Bumblebee believes he was, and I can see that he really is in love with Blitzwing… Do _you_ believe Blitzwing has been cast out?” He asked, serving the question back to the mech in front of him. Optimus was quiet as he thought it over. 

“I… I don’t know.” He answered with a resigned sigh, “He’s a Decepticon, that part worries me for several reasons. What if Blitzwing is just manipulating him? What if he's just using Bee as a means to an end?” Prowl gave him a nod and Optimus continued, “He’s a Decepticon, it’s right there in the name, they're deceptive by nature and this whole thing could just be some sort of trap.”

“That's certainly a possibility.” Prowl agreed.

Optimus thought for a second longer before voicing a solution. 

“What if we sent Bumblebee back to Cybertron until we've apprehended Blitzwing?” He suggested, “That way he wouldn’t be able to step in, or put himself in danger.” Prowl's expression turned grim as he thought it over.

“I sincerely doubt he'd allow himself to be taken without a fight; especially, considering he didn’t even allow himself to be put under house arrest.” Optimus scowled, still reasonably frustrated with Bumblebee's actions. Prowl continued, “And If you do manage to take him against his will, you’ll completely sever all the trust he has in you, are you willing to accept that?” He asked, his voice serious. “Also do you remember when he got those thrusters? If he really wants to be with Blitzwing then he’ll probably just get his servos on a ship somehow and pilot himself back here.”

“Maybe if we just kept him out of Blitzwing’s grasp for long enough, the manipulation he has over his emotions will loosen it's hold.” Optimus tried, “Maybe then he’ll see reason?”

“And if he's not?” Prowl asked with a raised optic ridge, “What if there actually is no manipulation? You'll only end up alienating Bumblebee further.” He said, seemingly taking to playing the role of devil's advocate. “Besides, even if he _is_ being manipulated, and their relationship _is_ fake, it's still very _real_ to Bumblebee.” he pointed out. Optimus let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his optics.

“If I let Blitzwing in I could put the entire team in danger, but if I don’t Bumblebee might decide to desert… and even if we just manage to capture Blitzwing I can't imagine Bumblebee will make it easy for any of us…” He let out a sigh, “Nothing seems like it's the clearly right choice,” He murmured.

“Few things usually are.” Prowl added in his usual cryptic way. There was a long beat of silence before Optimus looked up at the ninja bot with an expression of hopelessness.

“If you were in charge, what would you have done?”

”I'm no leader Optimus.” He stated evenly, “I've only just started being a team player. I can't imagine I'd be much of a leader… but I have had two mechs in my life who were, you and Master Yoketron. So, the only knowledge I have to offer is based on the two of you.” That wasn’t quite the answer Optimus was looking for, so he pushed forward.

”Well then, what would Yoketron have done?” Prowl took a long moment to respond as he put his chin in his servo.

“I'm not sure.” He said, “You can never completely predict how people will react. But when I first came under his tutelage I was still a rowdy good for nothing mech, still probably would be if he hadn’t stepped in. He saw something in me that no one else did and encouraged me to become something so much more than I was.” Prowl fell silent for a moment before continuing.

“I like to think that people can change for the better, that all they need is to be given the chance.” Prowl then looked straight at Optimus. “And someone to guide them in the right direction.” He then seemed to get a bit lost in thoughts after that. “But even I don't know for sure, there's already a vast difference between my past self and Blitzwing, and I'm not blind to the danger of this just being a ploy. It's entirely possible that he’s not interested in changing and will prefer his old ways. Change comes slowly, and at its heart, must come from a genuine want to improve oneself for the better. It's a delicate matter we've become involved with and also incredibly dangerous.” Prowl continued with a pensive expression,“But I suppose it would be a bit hypocritical of me to say that he is incapable of change… And Bumblebee did have a point about me and the dinobots. I'm still skeptical of Bumblebee's “judgment”, but if he sees something in Blitzwing that we do not, then who are we to argue.”

Optimus went quiet as his processor suddenly flashed back to what Bumblebee had said about his own relationship with Blackarachnia. He could've made the excuse that it was different, because at spark, he still believed her to be an Autobot on the inside, but even he had to accept that it was a flimsy argument at best.

Yes, she'd once been the Autobot known as Elita-1, but she was far from a good person. She'd almost killed Sari and poisoned both Prowl and Bumblebee all in a selfish attempt to regain her true form.

Still, Optimus couldn't help but hope there was something left of the Autobot she used to be. That maybe if he just said the right things he could convince her to join them. He supposed Bumblebee and himself weren't so different in that regard. Bumblebee seemed to have much the same reasoning. He'd even claimed Blitzwing had done good in the months they'd been together, and that if the Prime would only look he'd see that Blitzwing wasn't all bad.

Optimus knew he was being slightly hypocritical to question him, but… He just didn’t trust Blitzwing and he wasn't sure he ever would. Just what did Bumblebee see in him? 

“Primus, what am I supposed to do? It feels like the more I think about it, the more complicated it becomes.” Prowl nodded calmly.

“That’s because it really is that complicated.” He said, a small smirk making an appearance. “To be honest I'm just glad it's not me in your position.” The smile abruptly dropped from his face however, when Prowl leaned forward to offer what little advice he could. “I do believe however… That if you don’t let Blitzwing join, Bumblebee will leave us.” His face was grim. “Love can be a powerful motivator, and even if this thing between them is a hoax, it's still very real to Bumblebee. I think if he’s pressed on the matter he'd be willing to fight us for it. If you do allow Blitzwing to join us, it'll be a gamble. Is he being truthful? Or will his deceptive nature take over? Are you ready to deal with the consequences of either choice?”

The atmosphere turned pensive in the wake of these difficult questions, and for a moment they simply hung in the air ominously. 

Optimus already knew this was a high risk situation, that a lot was riding on his ability to make the correct choice.

He attempted to break his choices down to their most basic parts. Pros and cons were weighed against each other along with other endless possibilities. Possible outcomes circled like a storm inside his helm, from the best to worst and all the way to the downright absurd. There was simply too much to take into account, there were too many factors to reasonably identify.

Optimus looked down in defeat and for a moment and he took note of the red ‘scribble’ adorning his chest.

“Would taking in a Decepticon be against the Autobot codex?” He asked, already fairly certain what Prowl's answer would be.

“All life is precious and worth protecting.” Prowl said instead, “We're programmed to protect, not destroy, and like it or not Blitzwing still falls into the category of ‘all life’.” If Bumblebee really is telling the truth, then Blitzwing is currently in need of our protection. If we choose not to step in, our inactivity could very well result in his destruction, and in the worst case scenario, Bumblebees as well.” 

Optimus went quiet as he realised Prowl was right, Bumblebee had already put his life in Megatron's servos in an attempt to save Blitzwing once. There was every chance he'd do it again if he felt that Blitzwing was in imminent danger. Prowl continued, “And If what Bumblebee is saying is true and Blitzwing really did betray both Megatron and the entire Decepticon faction to save his life… Well, that can’t simply be swept under the rug.”

Optimus let out another sigh and rubbed his optics.

“I know… But what if it’s not true…” Silence fell over them then, neither of them really knowing what else to say. 

Prowl slowly stood from where he had been sitting.

“I think…” He said straightening from his hunched position, “That whatever you chose will work out in the end.” Prowl said with a soft smile, “Because, no matter if you welcome him or not, we'll still be your friends, and we’ll do what we can to help you. Just because you're the leader doesn't mean you have to carry the burden alone.” He said, “It’ll work out.” He sounded surprisingly confident. Optimus cocked an optic ridge.

“You sound very sure about that,” Prowl shook his helm.

“I’m not sure of anything. I just have hope, you can get surprisingly far with only that.” He gave Optimus one last smile before turning around walking out without another word, leaving the Prime muse over their conversation.

He looked back to the monitor where his hundreds of files stared back at him, all their words forming an indecipherable blur of text on screen. He looked at it for a moment longer before letting out a sigh and turning it off, plunging the base into darkness. 

He didn’t need it anymore.

He'd made his decision.


	15. Lost and found

Bumblebee was awoken when he felt the thing he was leaning against start to shift. He opened his optics with a groan, and still half asleep, looked over to see what was happening. He was met by Bulkhead's green plating, it’s owner seeming to have woken with a jerk. Bumblebee rubbed at his optics tiredly and looked up at the big mech who seemed to be having a one way conversation via his commlink.

“What’s going on?” Sari asked, Bumblebee's movement seeming to have woken her as well. Bulkhead ignored her question for a few seconds, before leaning down and responding in a whisper.

“I've got Optimus on the line.” he explained, his attention quickly being drawn back to his commlink. “Yes, he's here.” There was a bout of silence after Bulkhead's answer and Bumblebee could only imagine what Optimus was saying on the other end. 

“I’ll ask him,” Bulkhead said, turning to the minibot watching him with thinly disguised curiosity. 

“Well, What is it?” Bumblebee asked, lifting an optic ridge.

“Optimus asked if you could reactivate your commlink so he can talk to you.” Bumblebee scowled at the mention of his leader's demand. He still wasn't over being angry about how he'd been treated yesterday.

“Tell him I can’t. I’m still under house arrest if he doesn't remember.” Bumblebee sneered “I’m not supposed to contact  _ anyone _ .” Bulkhead sighed, before passing his message on to Optimus.

“He said he doesn't want to talk to you right now.” 

“That’s not what I said!” Bumblebee shouted, but even as he sulked over this slight he didn’t bother to press the matter further.

Bulkhead remained almost motionless as he listened to whatever Optimus was saying, but suddenly his optics widened in astonishment. Well, that certainly caught Bumblebee's attention. 

“What’s he saying?” He asked, not even trying to hide how interested he was. Bulkhead just shook his helm at him and continued to listen. Bumblebee let out a huff over being ignored and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for Bulkhead to finish.

“Okay, I’ll tell him.” Bulkhead said at last, turning back to the minibot. “Optimus says that he's finally come to a decision about what we should do about Blitzwing. He wants all of us to return to base for the announcement.” That answer caused Bumblebee’s spark to drop and his frame to go stiff with anxiety. 

This was it. The big cross road, the fate of everything was riding entirely on Optimus and his ability to make the right choice. Would Bumblebee get his way, or would Ratchet get his?

What would Optimus have to say when they got there? Considering the way they'd left things, Bumblebee couldn’t imagine it'd be anything good. How was he supposed to react if Optimus decided he was supposed to help hunt Blitzwing down after all? What would he do? More and more worst case scenarios just kept circling around his helm until he started to feel sick.

Suddenly, he felt a steady servo settle on his shoulder. He must have looked fairly grim when he raised his helm, but Bulkhead just gave him a gentle smile 

“It'll be alright.” 

Bumblebee smiled back somewhat uncertainly. “Are you ready to go? We can wait around a little longer if it'd help.” Bumblebee shook his helm and took a steadying breath.

“Let’s just get this over with.” He said, forcing himself to transform despite the turbulent emotions in his spark. Bulkhead quickly followed suit and popped open his side door for Sari. As soon as she was strapped in, they both made their way back towards the Autobot base. 

When they arrived, Optimus was already waiting outside the entrance with his arms crossed.

Bulkhead let out Sari and both he and Bumblebee transformed into their root modes.

Optimus optics narrowed when they landed on Bumblebee, but the yellow minibot met them straight on with a look of defiance. If Optimus was expecting some sort of apology for breaking his little house arrest order, then he was going to be disappointed.

Bumblebee crossed his arms over his chest impatiently as he waited for the Autobot leader to speak, but to his surprise, Optimus ignored him and instead turned to Bulkhead and Sari.

“You two, inside.” He said curtly, “I need to talk to Bumblebee alone.” Bulkhead looked nervously between the two of them, but Sari was much bolder in showing her distaste, as she stepped next to Bumblebee and crossed her arms as well. 

“What about?” She asked with a scowl. 

“I just want to confirm some things.” Optimus said, 

“Then there's no reason you can't say it in front of all of us.” Sari argued, Optimus just shook his helm tiredly.

“No I can’t. Now get inside you two, I'll gather everyone when we're finished.” Sari looked at him dubiously before turning back to Bumblebee. He seemed a little thrown off himself, but eventually he gave her an encouraging nod.

“I'll be fine.” He said, looking to both her and Bulkhead. “I can take whatever boss bot has to say.”

Sari still looked a little reluctant, but after another look at Bumblebee's resigned expression she gave him a nod and made her way inside, sparing a moment to give Optimus the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture with her fingers before both she and Bulkhead walked into the base, leaving Bumblebee alone with Optimus. 

An awkward silence quickly ensued as the two bots looked at each other. Neither of them seemed particularly eager to be having this conversation, but as the seconds dragged on Optimus finally decided to bite the bullet.

“I know I might've been a bit harsh on you yesterday, but that still gave you no right to break my order of house arrest.” Bumblebee just scoffed.

“If you're fishing for an apology, I can tell you right now you're not getting one.” He got a small amount of satisfaction out of watching Optimus clinch his denta in frustration. 

“I don’t do these things because I  _ like _ it. I do them for the betterment of the whole team.” Bumblebee narrowed his optics.

“Then you should respect that I'm doing what  _ I _ think is best.” Bumblebee retorted. There was another bout of silence before Optimus finally let out a deep sigh.

“We’ll talk about this another time, this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about.” Bumblebee lifted an optic ridge at that.

“Then what  _ do _ you want to talk about?” Optimus then looked at him with the most serious expression he'd seen outside of the few times they'd faced off against Megatron. 

“There are two things I want to clarify before I make my final decision.” His words alongside the determination in his optics is what finally gained Bumblebee's attention. “I want you to answer truthfully, and when you do, I don't want anyone else's opinion to influence how you might think or feel.” His voice was serious, “Not Ratchet, not Blitzwing and not me. I want to know what  _ you _ think about these issues. Do you understand?” Bumblebee gave him a jerky nod.

“Yes.” Bumblebee answered, only just now realizing the true gravity of what was being asked of him. Optimus drew closer until he was directly in front of the minibot, their optics locked in an intense stare.

“Bumblebee,” He started, “Do you honestly believe that Blitzwing can be good if given the chance?” Bumblebee was a bit frustrated that he was being asked questions he'd already made his stance clear on, but he pushed that burst of irritation down. Optimus seemed genuinely interested this time, and he'd made it clear that his answers actually had some weight behind it. If Optimus really was ready to hear him out, then Bumblebee would do his best to make him understand. 

“Yes.” He said, his expression unwavering. Optimus didn’t say anything for a moment, his optics searching the minibot for any hint of uncertainty. In defiance, Bumblebee met his optics straight on, his own showing nothing but a fierce determination. Seemingly reassured, Optimus gave him a final nod, before asking his second question.

“Tell me, do you love him?” Optimus asked, “Do you really and truly love him?” Bumblebee could just barely stop himself from rolling his optics. That had to be the easiest question he'd ever been asked in his life.

“I do. I know my spark isn't lying.” He said confidently, one servo placed over his spark chamber. Optimus gave him another serious nod.

“Then that's all I needed to know.” He said, and turned towards the opened door, leaving Bumblebee to wonder what frag just happened. Seeing his confusion, Optimus motioned for him to follow. “Come inside,” He said.

Bumblebee let out one last nervous sigh and hoped with all his spark that he'd somehow said the right things as he followed behind Optimus. 

Inside, everyone seemed to have already gathered in the living room. Just like their last team meeting they were standing in a semicircle, their optics immediately going to the two mechs walking inside. As Bumblebee scanned the room he made sure to shoot Ratchet a heated glare, an action which didn’t go unnoticed if Ratchet's answering scowl was anything to go by.

However, their stare down was interrupted as soon as Optimus began talking, their focus quickly switching to the Autobot leader.

“I have come to a decision,” Optimus announced, gaining the attention of everyone present. “I’m willing to give Blitzwing the chance to prove himself.” There was a spark stopping moment of silence before all hell broke loose.

“What?!” Shouted two voices, though said with vastly differing emotions, both held a substantial amount of disbelief. One was also of relieved excitement, while the other sounded beyond furious. Optimus ignored both of them as he continued. 

“I've decided that he'll be allowed to live with us under victim protection, and as long as he-” Optimus didn’t get any further before he was cut off.

“Victim protection!?” Ratchet screeched, seemingly unable to believe what he was hearing. Optimus just let out a tired sigh, clearly expecting this sort of response. “He’s not a victim in this!” Ratchet continued, screaming obscenities. “He causes victims! He's the  _ perpetrator _ ! He's never been a victim in his entire function! After all the damage he's done he should be treated as a POW!” 

“Shut up Ratchet!” Bumblebee shouted, furious at the things he was saying, but also terrified that Ratchet's outburst might cause Optimus' to change his mind. He couldn't give up, not now. Not when they were so close.

“Shut up?!” Ratchet shrieked, “This little stunt of yours could end up with all of us offline!”

“Please Ratchet, I know we can handle this.” Optimus said, trying to calm the enraged medic. “There have been cases of cross faction relationships in the past and not all of them ended in tragedy.”

“There may have been.” Ratchet agreed through clinched denta, “But I doubt any of them chose to be with one of Megatron's top lieutenants! The only worse Decepticon Bee could've chosen to fall for is Megatron himself!” Optimus seemed ready to argue the point, but he was cut off again when Sari decided to butt in.

“Wait, so you’re serious!?” She asked, her eyes shining with excitement, “No joke, you’ll really let him come live with us?!” Optimus looked down at her and nodded gravely.

“Yes, if he can follow our rules like you both said he could then I’ll permit him to stay.” Optimus explained. But before Sari, or Bumblebee for that matter, could get too excited he turned to both of them and continued with a serious expression, “But he gets only  _ one _ chance, and if he becomes a danger to us, or decides he can’t follow our rules then he’ll be swiftly handed over to the elite guard. That's the only deal I can offer him.” He said, his tone making it clear this wasn't negotiable. “One chance, that's all he gets.” 

Bumblebee went silent as he thought over Optimus' proposition. He nodded his helm, but he couldn’t help going over the conditions that'd been set forth.  _ ‘One chance’  _ he thought grimly, _ ‘That’s more than enough.’ _

“Then what's our next course of action?” asked Prowl,

“We look for Blitzwing.” Optimus stated, “And when we find him, we'll…” Optimus let out a sigh as he trailed off. He seemed uncomfortable giving voice to his next order. “We... We’ll just have to let Bumblebee explain our offer in person once he's located. If he agrees to hear us out, then I’ll go to help negotiate terms, and if we're able to come to an agreement, he can follow us back.”

“And if he rejects the offer?” Ratchet asked, his expression just a hint shy of murderous.

“If he refuses, then he'll just be wasting our time and we'll have no choice but to hand him to the elite guard upon his capture.” Optimus explained with a sigh. 

“But we won't have to worry about that!” Bumblebee shouted, “I can totally convince him to join! I’m sure of it!” Optimus just gave him a look of sympathy before slowly nodding his helm.

“If he does agree to our terms, then he can come here where I'll go over it again with all of you present. That way we all have a chance to talk about how this whole thing is going to work.”

“This is  _ not _ going to work!” Ratchet sneered, “He’s a Decepticon Optimus! You can’t work with mechs like him! They’re the scum of the known universe, just a bunch of pit spawned murderers! They can’t become Autobots! They completely lack any sense of compassion, morality, or remorse! Mechs like that can never be our allies!” Optimus made a point to hear out his rant before voicing his reply.

“If an Autobot can become a Decepticon, then what’s to say a Decepticon can’t become an Autobot?” Unfortunately, Optimus' question only seemed to light a fire behind Ratchet's optics.

“Is this about Blackarachnia?” He asked, sounding as if he'd just stumbled upon a revelation. Optimus' expression became stoney as he looked down at the medic.

“No, she has nothing to do with my decision.” He said, voice hard.

“Like slag she does! Is this really what it's all about?! You want to use Blitzwing as a guinea pig to test if a con can become an Autobot?! You really think there's the possibility of redeeming her after all she's done!? Are you still trying to atone for your mistake on Archa Seven? I know you feel guilty Prime, but that's no reason to take part in this madness!”

“That’s not the reason,” Optimus stated firmly, “There were several factors that influenced my decision, but none of them had to do with her . ” His optics narrowed, “But even if she was the reason, it wouldn't matter. I've thought this over it in depth, and my decision is final.” Their optics stayed locked in a battle of will's after Optimus' statement. Neither seemed willing to back down and all present could only wait for one to surrender. 

Eventually, Ratchet let out a sigh of defeat, the anger seeming to have drained out of him

“Alright Prime, I'll respect your decision.” He said, though it was clear the words were bitter coming out of intake. “I won’t oppose you, but don't expect me to be an accomplice to this madness.” 

“That’s fine.” Optimus replied gently, “I won’t force you to contribute; especially, considering your history with the Decepticon faction.” That was the moment Sari decided to speak up,

“So are we going out to look for Blitzwing or not?!” Sari yelled, Optimus looked down and gave her a singular nod.

“We will shortly,” He responded, “But I don’t want you coming with us this time.” Sari seemed just on the cusp of pitching a fit when Optimus continued, “I think you'd be more help to us if you stayed here and browsed the internet for relevant information.” Crisis narrowly averted, he then turned to address the rest of his team, “Anyone else that wants to help with the search can volunteer to go out and look for Blitzwing. If you find any trace of him, report back  _ immediately. _ ” Everyone, with the exception of Ratchet, nodded their agreement. Ratchet just looked at Optimus before letting out a sigh of fatigue.

“I've seen these types of things before, I've dealt with Decepticons in similar situations to what Blitzwing is in now, and I can tell you how these things usually end. Pure carnage. I'm begging you Optimus, on behalf of all of us, please reconsider.” Without waiting for a reply, he then turned and walked off. Bumblebee watched him until he was out of sight, his optics glaring holes in the back of the medics helm. 

“Don’t listen to him boss bot, you made the right choice.” He said, hoping to alleviate any doubt that might've crept up in the wake of Ratchet's spiel. “You won’t regret this! I promise!” Optimus just gave him another tired look before nodding his helm with a sigh.

“Autobots, roll out.”

They had to split up to start off their search. Four bots, four directions was the general consensus. Once each of them had chosen one of the four cardinal directions they took off. 

Bumblebee had gotten stuck in an area with low traffic, so he made fast progress in his search. Still, that didn’t stop him from being thorough.

He'd checked empty buildings, under bridges, deserted alleyways, basically anywhere that might be big enough to shelter Blitzwing. Unfortunately, he kept turning up empty handed, and the longer he went without finding even a trace of the big mech the more he started to worry.

He'd just gotten back onto the main road, after checking under what felt like his 100th bridge of the day, when he started to feel some doubt. He knew that the tactics they were using were filled with flaws, but unfortunately, there was little they could do to make the search any easier.

Blitzwing was a jet, and that gave him the ability to travel both quickly and far greater distances than any of the earthbound Autobots. For all Bumblebee knew, he could already be on the other side of the globe! He could be in Europe by now, or maybe Canada. They had no way of knowing if he was even in North America! What if he'd gone down south and headed towards Mexico? Slag, what if he'd just thought 'frag it' and shot off into space?! That was a genuine possibility. His jet mode was strong enough that he wouldn't even need a special aircraft to leave the planet's atmosphere. That thought alone made Bumblebees spark sink. If that really was what he'd done then there was no way they'd find him. Not that there was a great chance of finding him if he left the continent either, but depending on where he'd hidden himself It could take literal  _ days _ before they found so much as a trace of-

“I think I found him.” The words uttered through his commlink had Bumblebee coming to a screeching halt. For a moment he just stood there frozen, almost afraid to hope.

“W-what?” 

“I said I think I've found him,” Prowl repeated. “He's at the old war museum. He is hiding in plain sight as one of their display jets.” Bumblebee was honestly shocked. 

_ ‘He’s still in Detroit?’  _

“Has he seen you?” Optimus asked suddenly, 

“I don't believe so, no. If he had, I'm sure he would've left by now.” 

“Does he look okay?!” Bumblebee shouted into his commlink, his voice overflowing with concern.

“I’m still at distance,” Prowl replied, “But from my point of view, yes he appears to be fine.” Bumblebee let out an audible sigh of relief.

But before he had the chance to fully revel in the weight lifted from his chest, Optimus cut in.

“Prowl, how far are you?” 

“About...10 meters up and a couple of streets away.” He explained, “I’m currently at the top of a building.” 

“Fall back and return to base.” He said, before addressing Bumblebee in a much less assured tone, “Bumblebee…” He trailed off, seemingly reluctant to finish his sentence. It sounded like he was starting to have second thoughts about this whole thing. “Are you  _ positive _ you can handle this? That he won’t hurt you if we let you go?”

“I’m 100 percent sure- no 1000 percent sure! He won't lay a single digit on me, there's not a single doubt in my processor!” There was silence over the line before Optimus responded.

“Then I lay this mission in your servos, do what you think is best.” Bumblebee was about to offer an affirmative, but Optimus continued before he had the chance. “If this talk with Blitzwing starts to go south at any point I want you to contact me  _ immediately _ .”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Bumblebee replied flippantly, “Don’t worry a piston Boss bot, I've talked to Blitz like, a million times. Everything's gonna be fine.” Optimus let out a shaky sigh.

“Just… please be careful.” And with those words Bumblebee made a quick u-turn and started back towards Detroit. Towards Detroit and towards the Detroit history museum. 

It didn't take long for Bumblebee to arrive, but by the time he did the sun was already past the horizon and dusk had started to set in; turning the sky into a sea of pink and purple. It took him a second to see though the rapidly darkening atmosphere, but he did eventually catch sight of his goal.

Because standing amongst the other planes was a jet bearing Blitzwing's exact colours. It was sheltered under the museum's awning and was sequestered at the very back. As hidden as he possibly could be without looking unnatural. 

Bumblebee felt his spark pulse pick up as soon as he caught sight of it. He was immensely relieved to see him in one piece, but he couldn’t help worrying when he remembered how they'd parted ways. There was no telling how Blitzwing was handling the situation. He'd been seriously freaking out before he'd flown off, and all Bumblebee could do was hope that having some time to himself had given him a chance to calm down, instead of, well, making this whole thing worse.

Bumblebee slowly navigated the other aircrafts until he was parked right next to the jet in question. He transformed in front of it and just looked at his boyfriends altmode for a moment. The lack of obvious movement was somewhat concerning, but before he could overthink it, he gently placed his servo on the nose cone and gave him a soft smile.

“You can drop the act now,” He said in a gentle humour, “I'd recognize that awful paint job anywhere.” 

He felt the plating start to shift under his servo until it finally disappeared altogether as Blitzwing transformed into his root mode and sat in a crouched position.

He seemed to be okay from what Bumblebee could see with a quick glance. There were no obvious signs of damage, and it looked like Sari's key had taken care of all of his previous wounds, but that still didn’t mean he was  _ okay _ . The first thing that tipped Bumblebee off was seeing just how exhausted he looked, there were dark circles under his optics and Bumblebee seriously doubted he'd recharged at all since they'd last been together. Another worrying thing was how he was holding himself. His entire frame was tense, and he kept glancing to the side as if he were waiting for a hidden ambush. Overall, it looked like constant paranoia from the last day had taken its toll. 

As soon as the last gear had clicked into place, Bumblebee threw his arms around his neck, pulling him down and into a hug. He felt Blitzwing freeze underneath him, but it didn’t take long for him to reciprocate. His entire frame seemed to curl around Bumblebee as his black servos came up to cradle the minibot against his cockpit. The whole thing ended sooner than Bumblebee would've liked, and as he was slowly leveraged back down Bumblebee couldn’t help looking up at the triple changer with a look of confusion. Blitzwing's expression was grim.

“Why are you here?” He asked, his voice strained. Bumblebee just cocked his helm to the side.

“Why am  _ I _ here?” He asked in disbelief, “I'm here because you're here, you idiot!” He ended his answer with a half hearted chuckle, but Blitzwing just shook his helm.

“You should be with your team, staying hidden.” He explained softly, “Megatron might be out looking for you.”

“Yeah probably,” Bumblebee agreed, “But I'm more worried about  _ you _ . I mean, he’s  _ definitely _ out looking for you right now.” he pointed out. “Hey, I tried to comm you earlier, but you never answered.” Blitzwing seemed to pause.

“I’m sorry,” He said, angling his helm downward so that it covered his optics. “I've just been zoning in and out a lot lately. I must not have heard it.” His voice sounded weak.

“Hey, it’s all good.” Bumblebee said, deciding to keep his day and a half of near constant panic to himself. “Now, are you okay?” he asked gently. Blitzwing simply shook his helm, and when he looked up all the sadness and fear he might've otherwise tried to hide stood blatantly for all to see. He'd asked the question, but it still hurt Bumblebee somewhere deep in his spark to see just how 'not okay' he was. Blitzwing wasn't supposed to look like that, it was just unnatural. He was usually so strong and confident! 

“I've lost my faction.” He began, “I've lost my status, my identity, I've lost my very  _ purpose _ .” He let out a miserable chuckle, “I don’t even have a datapad.” There was silence for a moment as Blitzwing's words hung over both of them. “I have nothing left Bumblebee.” His words were filled with despair and spoken with such sorrow. “I have  _ literally _ nothing.” 

It was then that Bumblebee realized just how hard this whole thing must've been for the other mech. The Decepticon faction were all Blitzwing had had. They might not have been friends, but they were still his comrades, and Bumblebee knew how much that loyalty had meant to him. Sure the Decepticons majorly sucked, but Bumblebee still had to respect how deeply Blitzwing cared for his faction. He'd lost his trine, endured the unspeakable torture of the triple changer procedure, very nearly lost his mind, and through all of he'd stayed because he'd genuinely believed in their cause. And after all of that now he could never return; all those years of devotion, war, and loss might as well have been for nothing.

“You still have me,” Bumblebee said softly, for once unsure what to say. Blitzwing's decision to save him from Megatron had basically cost him everything. That would be a bitter pill to swallow for anyone. “Do you regret your choice?” He found himself unable to meet Blitzwing's optics as he asked. He wasn't sure he'd like the answer.

Blitzwing immediately shook his helm. 

“No, you never have to ask me that. I’ll never regret choosing you, you're worth the world to me it’s just- I… He rubbed angrily at his faceplate before it suddenly switched to Hothead. 

“I attacked Megatron!” He shouted suddenly, taking Bumblebee by surprise. “The most dangerous mech alive! The mech I pledged my loyalty to! I betrayed our cause, and now I’m no better than that traitor Starscream!” His plating started to warm as he continued to work himself up, and it quickly became apparent that time had done little to smooth over the events of yesterday. He was still clearly coming to terms with the new direction his life had taken, and although he wasn't as shaken as when he'd first arrived at the Autobot base, it was a near thing.

Bumblebee wasn’t sure what he should do, he'd never faced a situation like this in his life. He needed a moment to think this through.

Eventually, he decided to take a page out of Prowl's book and exercise what he'd been taught after Sari's dad had gone missing. ‘Be silent and listen. They’ll tell you what they need.’ It had worked well enough for Sari, so Bumblebee didn't see why it couldn't apply here as well.

“C'mon Blitzy, everything will be okay.” He said, gently taking Blitzwing's servo into his own. “I know everything feels like it's falling apart right now, but I promise it'll get better.“ Bumblebee looked up into Hothead's visor as he ran his digits over his knuckles. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Blitzwing just looked at him for a moment before letting out a deep breath and switching back to Icy.

“I don’t know.” He said as he began to pace. back and forth, back and forth, almost as if he were unable to keep still as nervous energy continued to thrum beneath his plating. As he passed Bumblebee for the fourth time, he stopped suddenly and turned to face him. “Could you… Could you stay here? Just for a moment? I know it’s not safe-” Bumblebee cut him off before he could finish.

“Of course.” He said, as if there had never been any doubt. “You know I’m here for you, whatever you need.” There was a beat of silence, afterwhich Blitzwing continued to pace.

His frenzied movement was starting to make Bumblebee nervous, and he'd never been particularly good at handling awkward silences, so after a few more rounds of pacing Bumblebee couldn’t stop himself from speaking up. “You want me to talk about random stuff again? That seemed to help last time.” Blitzwing stopped from where he was wearing a hole in the floor and looked at him with an odd expression. The corner of his mouth lifted as if he wanted to smile, but his current mindset as well as his lack of energy just left him looking tired.

“Back then I needed a distraction. Right now what I need is a plan; a course of action.” He stopped long enough to let out a shaky exhale and rubbed at the back of his neck cables. “I-I just don’t know what I'm going to do.” For a moment he seemed to just stare out into space, his optics glazed over as he looked at something far beyond the museum's airfield.

_'I've been zoning_ _out a lot lately…'_

Bumblebee was only getting more worried by the second. “But I've got to figure out something soon,” He then continued, still sounding as if he wasn't completely there “Because if I don’t and Megatron finds me first then... then he'll…” He didn’t finish that sentence, and seemingly without conscious thought, his servo came up to rub absently at his bare throat. Bumblebee felt his energon boil as he witnessed the gesture. He remembered how Blitzwing had looked after Megatron had allowed them to reunite. Signs of the horrific abuse he'd suffered had been scattered all over his frame, but none had been so prominent as the crushing marks around his throat. The divots left by the warlord's large servos could only mean he'd been strangled, and it seemed even now he was favoring the delicate plating.

Bumblebee forced himself to push the rage down, filing it away for later. He could think about possible revenge plots against Mega-glitch another time. Right now he needed to focus on Blitzwing.

“Okay, well... What if we just worked on thinking up a game plan together? I'm sure that If we put our helms together we’ll be able to come up with something!” His confidence might not have been entirely genuine, but Bumblebee was nowhere close to giving up. “Remember, you're not alone in this.” Blitzwing was silent for a moment before a sudden realization seemed to strike him out of the blue.

“Wait, how are you even here? Your team saw us together, they couldn’t have taken that well.” Now it was Bumblebee's turn to go quiet as he tried to think of best to break the news that Blitzwing now had a standing invitation to join the Autobots. Should he do it now or wait until he was in a better state of mind? After a few more seconds of thinking Bumblebee decided to just just go for it.

“Well, it’s still a little complicated.” he admitted sheepishly, “We had a whole conversation about it and I kind of need to run it by you.” Blitzwing shot him a worried look. 

“Are you in trouble? Did they throw you out as well?” Bumblebee shook his helm quickly, not wanting to give Blitzwing anything else to worry about.

“No, no it’s nothing like that.” He said, “Boss bot's just kind of got this offer and I’m supposed to pass it along.”

“A-an offer?” He asked, clearly confused as to what the leader of team Prime could possibly want with him.

“Yeah,” Bumblebee confirmed, “He told me that he's willing to let you join us, but first he wants to talk to you so you can both agree on the terms.” He finished his declaration with a smile, “He said he's willing to give you a chance.” Bumblebee could just barely contain how eager he was, but he quickly realized Blitzwing didn’t seem to share his excitement. Blitzwings optics had widened in shock and he genuinely seemed to be at a loss for words. 

“He said… He was willing to let me join? W-why would he say something like that?” His faceplate switched to Random with a sudden whirr, “He must have completely lost his mind! And people call me crazy!” He ended things with a high pitched cackle that went on for just a little too long. His manic laughter ended up cutting off just as abruptly as it started though, and Random just barely had the time to close his mouth before Hothead took control. “Does he think I’m some kind of idiot?!” He shouted, “I’m not going to negotiate the terms of my own surrender! I'll never go down that easily!” 

“It’s not a surrender!” Bumblebee responded, “And you’re not going to be our prisoner! Optimus is offering you asylum under the victim protection act! If you accept it we can protect you.” Blitzwing let out a booming ‘Ha!’.

“Victim protection?! Is that what he's going with?! As soon as I step one ped inside your base I’ll be turned into some Autobots science project or placed in stasis cuffs and shipped off to the stockade!” Bumblebee violently shook his helm. 

“No, I promise that’s not the case.” Bumblebee said confidently, “This really isn’t a trick! you've got to believe me.” Blitzwing just looked at him for a long moment before switching back to a grim faced icy.

“I believe that  _ you _ believe it's not a trick, but I don’t trust your leader to keep his word.” He shook his helm. “I'm sorry Bumblebee, but I have no desire to become an Autobot. I've fought too long to willingly place myself back under the heel of Autobot tyranny, and I won't be treated like some worthless, second-class citizen.” 

“That’s not going to happen!” Bumblebee yelled, starting to get annoyed. He knew Blitzwing had his reasons for not liking or trusting the Autobot faction, but this whole thing was starting to get ridiculous. It wasn't like he was being asked to go in front of the Autobot high council, it was only him and his team. “I promise you won’t be treated like that, you’ll be treated with the same respect everyone else is! I’ll personally make sure of it!” Blitzwing still didn’t look particularly convinced, but Bumblebee was sure he could wear him down. “If you can’t believe in him then can you at least believe in the part of me that believes in him?” Blitzwing was quiet for a long time before finally letting out an exhausted sigh. 

“I've fought the Autobots for a long time, Bumblebee.” His faceplate circled back to Hothead “I've offered up both my frame and my processor, I've lost things that can never be replaced, and all of it was in the name of the cause! You're asking me to turn my back on everything I've ever fought for! You're asking me to betray my faction, my comrades, my trin-” 

“But they're not your faction anymore! You've  _ already _ betrayed them!” Bumblebee pointed out, only realizing a second later that he might've been too blunt. “You've even said so yourself! You can’t exactly become a traitor twice! Or like, traitor 2.0 .” 

“Just because I've lost my own faction doesn't mean I’ll join yours!” Blitzwing roared.

“Maybe,” Bumblebee hissed, “But right now you're facing a battle on two fronts and having some allies to watch your back couldn’t hurt!” He argued, throwing up his arms in exasperation.

“Not if they stab me  _ in _ said back! Not if they…” The rage seemed to suddenly drain out of him as an awful shudder wracked the triple changers frame. Suddenly, everything seemed too quiet.

Bumblebee would have to be blind not to notice, and feeling somewhat bad for the way he'd pushed, he reached up and grabbed Blitzwing's servo. The silence seemed to drag on forever as Bumblebee gave them both a chance to calm down, and eventually Blitzwing started to squeeze back. His optics were averted, but he held on as if he were afraid to let go. Maybe he was looking for something to ground him, or maybe he was asking for comfort in the only way he knew how.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to join.” Bumblebee said quietly, trying not to let his own bias slip through. “We can find another way, I’ll never force you to do something that you don’t want… But maybe you could talk to Optimus first, and just like, hear him out?” He suggested, “And hey, even if you do decide to join, that doesn't necessarily mean your fate is set in stone. If it really isn't for, or you start to feel unsafe you can always just leave. You can always just sneak out once it's night, slag I might even help you if you want!” It seemed to Bumblebee that the triple changer might actually be starting to consider it, so he decided to press on. “And I’ll be there to help you every step of the way! You can trust me on that! I won't let anything bad happen to you.”

Blitzwing was silent for a long time before switching to Icy and letting a sigh of defeat.

“It won’t work,” He said, “I can’t work with a group of Autobots,” Bumblebee cocked his helm to the side.

“Why not?”

“I’m just not a good fit for it. We're too different.” His short answer didn't appear to have left Bumblebee anymore enlightened, so Blitzwing continued to elaborate.

“I’m a warframe.” He said, gesturing at his heavily weaponized frame. “I’m violent, I dislike the organics that inhabit this planet, and I have no desire for heroics. I’m crazy, uncontrollable, something I think even your team will agree on, though I don’t blame them for this. We have a long history of conflicting ideals, and a war that had lasted for countless millennia can not simply be forgotten.” he let out a sigh. “I won’t fit in with your team, and regardless of how strongly you might want to believe the contrary, I know that I can never be an Autobot.” He might as well have been channeling Ratchet for how certain he was that they were just too different. Honesty, Bumblebee was just getting tired of them both acting like Decepticons and Autobot were two completely different species. 

“Well, you've hung out with me and we've never had a problem.” Bumblebee pointed out, “And  _ I’m _ an Autobot, So I doubt you'd have that much trouble fitting in with the rest of us.” Blitzwing shook his helm.

“It’s different with you.” Bumblebee just looked up at him with his arms crossed.

“Why?” He asked, “Sure, our relationship started out a little rocky, but just look at us now! Who's to say you can’t have a good relationship with the rest of my team as well?” Bumblebee shot him a cheeky grin. “I mean none of them are as awesome as me, but most of them are still pretty okay, and I think you might even like some of them if you just gave them a chance.”

“It’s different with them.” He said, “I can’t imagine any of them being as open minded as you are and there's a good chance I won’t get along with any of them. The fact that we got together at all is something of a miracle, because if you don’t remember, it was you that started most of our conversations. This is a different situation entirely. I’m not a ‘people person’ Bumblebee.”

“Trust me, I know that better than anyone.” Bumblebee replied in a perfect deadpan. Back when they'd first been dumped in Master Disasters arena, getting Blitzwing to even acknowledge him had been a chore. “That still doesn't mean it  _ won’t _ work,” He stated firmly, “I mean, have you ever even  _ tried _ ?” For a moment Blitzwing just looked at the minibot with a confused expression.

“Tried what?” 

“Tried being an Autobot of course!” Blitzwing just stared at him, seemingly staggered by the absurdity of Bumblebee's question.

“N...No?”

“Well then how do you know it’s not for you if you've never tried?” He asked with a grin. Blitzwing just continued to look down as he considered the minibot in front of him. He still didn’t seem totally convinced, but he hadn’t denied it like Bumblebee's last few attempts so he pressed on. “Do you think you could at least try? Just think about it! You and me, together all day every day! We can drink oil together, you won't have to worry about Megatron, and we can recharge together every night just like we used to! It'll be just like the show, except we won't be in prison!” Bumblebee exclaimed, eager to make Blitzwing see all the good things this could bring to both of them. Blitzwing just watched as the minibot continued to happily list all the things they'd be able to do together, and for the first time his expression started to show some doubt. 

“Just… Give me a moment to think.” He asked. 

“Sure, take all the time you need.” Bumblebee said, and with that Blitzwing seemed to draw inward. He returned to staring seemingly out into space, and for the time being all Bumblebee could do was shift his weight from ped to ped as he waited for Blitzwing's answer. He wasn't really comfortable staying in one place for so long and basically doing nothing, but he wanted to give Blitzwing as much time as he needed in order to think this through.

Bumblebee had already known going in that Blitzwing would be opposed to the idea of switching sides, but he still crossed his digits and hoped that he'd choose the option that would allow them to have a life together.

It hadn’t gone his way the last time they'd had this conversation, but maybe things had changed drastically enough that he'd see things in a different light now, or at least that's what Bumblebee hoped would happen. Maybe all Blitzwing needed was one final push to see that joining the Autobots would be the best option for everybody.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence Blitzwing finally seemed to come to a decision, because he leant forward and let out a deep sigh.

“Okay… I’ll-I’ll give it a try.” 

Even as he agreed he sounded far from enthusiastic. “I can’t promise I’ll accept your brand, but I’ll do my best to at least remain an ally.” Bumblebee wasn’t sure if he'd ever been so happy to hear anything in his entire function. His spark felt as if it could go supernova at any moment and as he turned to look up at his boyfriend he couldn’t help bouncing on the spot.

“That’s fine! That's totally fine! You're best is all anyone can ask for!” Bumblebee couldn’t believe he'd actually done it. He'd acted confident in front of Optimus, but there had still been a nagging doubt in the back of his processor. But just look at where they were now! Blitzwing was going to come live with them! He'd be able to see him and they'd be able to hang out. Every. Single. day! This was a dream come true! Unfortunately, it only took a quick glance for Bumblebee to see that Blitzwing's expression wasn't nearly as jubilant as own, and realizing that his excitement might not be the best way to ease his frayed nerves, Bumblebee forced himself to calm down and gave him reassuring smile. “This is going to work, I promise you.” He said, and made a familiar X over his chest plates. Blitzwing just made a slow nod.

“Very well then, call your leader. Let him know that I’m ready to negotiate.”

Bumblebee gave him one last a smile before activating his comm link.

“I’m done Boss bot!” Almost immediately he heard an audible sigh of relief from the other end.

“Are you okay? How did it go?” Optimus asked, sounding frazzled. 

“Blitz said he's interested! So, if you wanna show up and talk about it with him you can do that now.” There was a tense beat of silence.

“Okay.” Optimus said, letting out a shaky exhale, “Just make sure he knows I’m coming and that he won’t attack.” Bumblebee just scoffed.

“It’ll be fine, trust me.” And with that he ended the call. He felt the grip around his servo tighten, and when he looked up he saw Blitzwing watching him through optics tainted with exhaustion, his unease was nearly palpable. Bumblebee just gave him a soft smile and promised him that it would be over soon, His thumb stroking soft paths over Blitzwing's much larger servo as they both waited.

It wasn’t long before a familiar vehicle pulled up, and Blitzwing's optics narrowed at the sight of it. His expression closing down to almost nothing as he stared intently at the Autobot leader.

Optimus transformed with little fanfare, and for a moment he stood there, his expression unreadable as he took in the sight before him. Clearly, he was still far from comfortable seeing the two of them together. 

He tried to put on a front of calm, sure-footed authority, but even Bumblebee could see the undercurrent of worry and unease hiding under his carefully crafted facade.

“Blitzwing.” Optimus acknowledged “I assume Bumblebee has explained the situation.” Blitzwing just stared at him stoically, before finally giving a curt nod. 

“Before we begin, I want to go over the terms with you. If you’re ready, I'll start listing them now.” Blitzwing gave another stiff nod. 

“I will be your new leader, that means what I say goes and you will be expected to listen to my orders.” Optimus began, “You will not attack anyone on our team, or hurt any of the humans that we protect. You may use your commlink to communicate with our team, but if you wish to speak with anyone else you will have to be granted permission. Additionally, you're not allowed to use a datapad or out central monitor without express permission, and only under supervision. You may not leave our base without an escort and you will hand over your weapons as soon as we reach our base. If there are other rules that are required I reserve the right to introduce them as the situation calls for it.” Optimus let out a deep vent before he continued, “By letting you into our team we are trusting you to uphold Autobot values, you can no longer identify yourself as a Decepticon.” As the Autobot leader continued to lay out his terms, Blitzwing couldn't help brushing his digits over the insignia adorning his chest. If the prime noticed this gesture he tactfully chose not to mention it. 

“If you're willing to follow the rules that I've laid out then I can promise you that you'll be treated as an equal. You won’t be treated any differently than anyone else on my team, and as long as you remain with us you'll be spared the authority of the elite guard.” Blitzwing narrowed his optics, he was still clearly distrustful of the Primes motives, but he did eventually give a nod of agreement.

“I want to keep my weapons,” He said, voice chilling. Optimus however stood his ground.

“No, if you're to be allowed into our base you have to give them up. You may earn them back eventually if you can prove yourself to be trustworthy, but I'm not comfortable with you having them in my base at the time being.” Now it was Bumblebee's turn to scowl at the Prime.

“That’s not fair!” He shouted, suddenly furious at what he felt was a clear injustice. “Everyone else in our base has weapons!” Met by his teammates usual combativeness, Optimus just let out an irritated sigh.

“Yes, but we're not warframes Bumblebee. I think even he will agree that he's more than capable of taking care of himself without weapons. He'll be far from defenseless.”

“It’s still not fair! He should-!”

“Bumblebee.” Blitzwing hadn’t spoken particularly loudly, but the soft utterance of his name still managed to draw Bumblebee attention. When he turned around he could see that Blitzwing still didn’t seem especially happy about the order given, but once he had Bumblebee's attention he simply shook his helm. Bumblebee scowled as he returned to standing quietly at Blitzwing's side. He didn’t like it, but he'd respect Blitzwing’s silent request to let it go.

“Very well.” He said, whatever softness his voice might've held quickly evaporating. “Your terms are… Acceptable, but I have a few demands of my own.” Optimus studied him for a few moments before making a small incline of his helm. 

“Proceed.”

“No medical or scientific testing or probing of my frame is to be allowed. You will not hinder or otherwise attempt to break apart my and Bumblebee's relationship, and I will not be forced to do anything that you wouldn’t ask of your own people. If I am attacked by  _ any _ member of your team I should be allowed to defend myself, even if that calls for the use of violence. And lastly, I refuse to be encased in any single room, or treated as a prisoner.” Optimus seemed to think things over, but eventually, he nodded.

“Your terms are reasonable.” Optimus said, “And as long as you continue to respect the rules I've laid out for you then I can promise we'll have no reason to treat you as anything other than an ally.” There was a beat of silence after their conversation wrapped up and it seemed as if Optimus was gathering the courage to finalize things. He must've realized this was going to be his last chance to call everything off; after tonight there would be no going back.

Bumblebee held his breath as he waited for the Primes verdict. Thankfully, his worry was unnecessary, because soon enough Optimus slowly extended his servo towards the triple changer.

“So do we have an agreement?” Blitzwing scrutinised the servo in front of him for a moment before slowly tilting his helm to look at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee looked up at him with a soft smile and gave his servo a gentle squeeze, a silent promise that from now on they'd face the world together. Blitzwing gave him an answering squeeze before taking back his servo and turned to face the Autobot leader.

Blitzwing held his helm high as he finally emerged from the museum's outcropping, his large steps quickly eating up the distance between himself and the smaller prime. For a moment he simply regarded the other mech, his optics searching for lies or any other hints of deception in the Autobot's face. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he reached out and grasped Optimus' servo. 

Bumblebee didn’t miss the way Optimus flinched back. His tense posture saying that he'd more than likely expected Blitzwing to simply crush his servo right then and there. Of course no such thing happened, but there was still a fairly tense atmosphere until the two mechs finally let go. 

“It’s a deal then,” Blitzwing said, his voice a chilling baritone, before his faceplate abruptly switched to Random. “No take backsies!” He shouted with a loud cackle. 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave kudos and comment! I love to hear your thoughts, and comments and kudos helps me stay motivated to keep updating <3


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